The price of lithium is falling, but some Western companies have recently announced more investments in the Lithium Triangle – a region of South America comprising parts of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.

The Lithium Triangle, a region of South America comprising Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, has proven potential in lithium production, but each country faces its own specific challenges.

The countries that comprise the Lithium Triangle currently control more than 50% of global lithium resources, with production concentrated in the salt flats regions of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, where there are lithium brine deposits.

The re-election of Donald Trump for a second term as US president has created uncertainty about the ability of Chinese carmakers to continue to manufacture and export auto components into Mexico to be fully assembled and then exported to the US.

Unlike most other commodities, cobalt is primarily a by-product – with 60% derived from copper and 38% from nickel – so how will changes in those markets change the picture for cobalt in the coming months following a year of price weakness and oversupply in 2024?

Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers have been reaching upstream to producers, beyond their agreements with their battery manufacturing partners, to secure North American supply for their production, battery materials and technology company Novonix’s chief executive officer Chris Burns told Fastmarkets

The shift in China from nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) batteries, which mainly use lithium hydroxide, to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which use lithium carbonate, is leading to a wider price spread between the two materials, prompting producers there to shift from hydroxide to carbonate.

China’s electric vehicle (EV) and battery industry participants expect more uncertainty under a second Donald Trump presidency amid the president-elect’s intention to scale back the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and pursue expanded protectionist trade policies, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 7

The market for silicon anodes is likely to develop rapidly, independently of growth in the ex-China graphite supply chain, according to the chief executive officer of a leading silicon anode producer.

Donald Trump’s second term as US president is not likely to have too much of an impact on China’s electric vehicle (EV) and new energy markets, despite broader concerns over potential tariff hikes which might bring challenges to both China and the US, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 7.