Developments in prevalent battery chemistries and geopolitical moves to onshore key battery raw materials (BRM) supply will likely require significant changes to the manganese sulfate supply chain, Fastmarkets understands

Fastmarkets explores two key emerging battery chemistries and whether they have the ability to alleviate battery material supply challenges

NextSource has begun flake graphite production at its Molo mine in Madagascar ahead of a potential bottleneck in natural and synthetic graphite anode material produced outside of China, executive vice president Brent Nykoliation told Fastmarkets

Much of the focus in the manganese sulfate market is now on the development of a supply chain outside of China, Fastmarkets understands

Sometimes regarded as the “forgotten” battery material, attention towards manganese has increased drastically as participants seek to localize supply chains and ramp up battery production to meet growing demand

The anode market has increasingly shifted focus to synthetic graphite from natural material in response to increased capacity and changing feedstock in China, which dominates the global market. And in response Fastmarkets will start to price assess petroleum needle coke and green petroleum coke on an ex-works China basis

Tata Group announced this week that it is to invest £4 billion ($5.2 billion) in a 40GW battery cell 'gigafactory' in the UK - producing both lithium and cobalt-based batteries for car manufacturers in the UK and across Europe

China’s preference for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries continued to grow in June, with the country’s output of such batteries rising by 11.64% month on month to 42.2 gigawatt hours (GWh), according to data from China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance (CABIA)

China’s auto output and sales rose for a second straight month in June, due to central and local government stimulus measures, along with carmakers introducing new models and sales incentives to try and hit their mid-year sales targets

Higher prices for cobalt metal have led to increased interest for assays of lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) black mass in Asia, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 12