OUTLOOK: Securing lithium biggest challenge to battery supply chain in H2 2021

Battery supply chain participants have prioritized securing lithium in the second half of 2021, but nickel has also been a headache for sourcing directors, who are less concerned about cobalt supplies, a Fastmarkets survey has found.

Fastmarkets conducted a survey of market participants in the battery supply chain - mainly battery materials producers -to assess which battery metals pose the biggest challenge in terms of securing feedstock materials.
Fastmarkets received responses from 20 market participants, among whom 15 were battery cathode or precursor materials producers. Three of the survey participants were traders or distributors who have an interest in at least two of the battery metals. The remaining two respondents were an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and a battery manufacturer.

Eight respondents ranked lithium as the battery metal most difficult to secure in the second half of 2021, followed by nickel and cobalt. Five respondents ranked nickel as the most difficult to secure, followed by lithium, then cobalt. The battery supply chain has broadly prioritized securing lithium and nickel in the next few months, with nine votes going to lithium and seven to nickel. Only three survey...

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