Video length: 00:16:05

We spoke with TalkMarkets contributor John Petersen of Mining Pundits about the future for electric vehicles, the cobalt cliff and how demand for battery metals (nickel & cobalt) will drive prices for battery materials higher.

Discussed in this interview:
02:03 Implications of cobalt mined as a by-product
05:03 Class I & II nickel market
09:34 Insufficient cobalt supplies to meet demand
12:32 Lithium-ion battery compositions
17:45 Replacement for the NMC battery composition?
24:47 Irreplaceable uses for cobalt
29:06 Manufacturers will buy cobalt at any price
30:16 China controls 50% of the world's cobalt

Electric Vehicle & Battery Metal News

1) Singapore’s largest electric vehicle charging network to have 500 charging points island-wide:

• Charging points will be made available in public by 2020.
• Of the 500 charging points, more than 100 will be 50kW-DC charging points, a fast charge technology that can fully charge an EV in 30 minutes.
• They will be three to seven times faster than predominant EV chargers in Singapore today, which are rated at 7.4kW.
• Singapore is regarded as an ideal environment for EVs as it is highly urbanised and compact.
• Mobile app by Singapore Power Group in the works to allow drivers to locate available charging stations in Singapore.

2) China is the biggest global refiner of cobalt:

• China refines about 50 to 60% of world's produced cobalt.
• China will control most of the world's refined cobalt supplies.
• Our recent SBTV guest, John Petersen, also corroborates on this information at 3:14 of the above video.
• China is scrambling to roll out electric vehicles to reduce roadside pollution.
• China is home to Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., the biggest global refiner, which is growing to meet rapidly expanding demand from new energy vehicles.
• According to Bloomberg Intelligence this month, strong inventory building globally will push the market into deficit with higher purchases from battery makers and aerospace.

3) Once unloved, nickel is turning out to be one of the year’s best-performing assets

• Nickel is a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries and stainless steel.
• The speculative fever for electric-car metals is pushing to nearly four-year high prices.
• Despite the hype with electric vehicles, batteries only account for a tiny slice of total nickel demand at this moment, about 3%.
• Analysts at Citigroup estimate battery usage could hit as much as 40% in the next 15 years.
• More companies have come to favor batteries that use more nickel than cobalt.
• Battery-grade nickel compounds also require a higher-quality material than the metal used to produce stainless steel. That’s causing some analysts to predict prices need to move higher to incentivize large producers.

4) Vale, the world's biggest nickel producer, is investing $1.7 billion in Voisey's Bay - a nickel mine.

• The investment is expected to add at least 15 years to the mine and create 1,700 direct jobs.
• First ore from the underground section is expected no later than April of 2021.
• Voisey's Bay also produces cobalt - another key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries.
• Move is seen as positive for nickel and cobalt in the nascent electric car boom.