PDA

View Full Version : China quietly buying up world lithium supply



Dr. Who
11-20-2017, 08:21 PM
Tesla's huge Gigafactory in the Nevada desert gets a lot of headlines, but China produces about two-thirds of the global supply of batteries for electric vehicles, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. And the firm estimates that China is building about half of the 20 or more battery mega-factories currently in the works.
....

The growing global appetite for lithium is already driving up its price. It's gained 40% since the start of the year to trade around $14,000 per ton, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
"This is an incredible bull market like lithium's never seen," Moores said.
A lot of the demand comes from China's large and growing battery manufacturing industry.

.....

In September, Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor (GWLLF) bought a stake in Pilbara Minerals (PILBF), an Australian lithium miner. Earlier this year, China's Ganfeng Lithium snapped up 20% of an Argentine project. Last year, China's Tianqi Lithium took a 2% stake in Chile's SQM (SQM), one of the world's top miners of the metal.

The Chinese government has been quietly instructing state-owned enterprises to hunt down lithium resources outside China, according to Francois Perrin, a portfolio manager at investment firm East Capital. He predicts that over the next few years, China will wield increasing influence over the supply of lithium and other metals used in electric batteries.

.....


"Whoever controls the lithium supply chain will control the future of the electric vehicle space," said Simon Moores, managing director at research and data provider Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. "There's a global battery arms race."

http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/20/investing/lithium-china-electric-car-batteries/index.html

China is setting itself up to be the destination for manufacturers of electric cars. Tesla and Volkswagon are already working on plans for Chinese plants, worth billions.

resister
11-20-2017, 08:34 PM
They will have us by the short ones and surpass us as a superpower.

jimmyz
11-20-2017, 08:38 PM
They will have us by the short ones and surpass us as a superpower.

Chinese industry can make things better than they can invent things. Lithium storage devices will be made obsolete by a better battery system we in the USA invent. Dont worry people.

resister
11-20-2017, 08:41 PM
Chinese industry can make things better than they can invent things. Lithium storage devices will be made obsolete by a better battery system we in the USA invent. Dont worry people.
Everything evolves, not that long ago (relatively) the sealed lead acid battery was considered a technological, revolution.

Dr. Who
11-20-2017, 08:59 PM
Chinese industry can make things better than they can invent things. Lithium storage devices will be made obsolete by a better battery system we in the USA invent. Dont worry people.

Maybe, but China invests heavily in higher education and many of the US-educated Chinese are going back home with their educations and knowledge acquired in those high tech fields. I wouldn't count my chickens....

Peter1469
11-20-2017, 09:10 PM
Chinese industry can make things better than they can invent things. Lithium storage devices will be made obsolete by a better battery system we in the USA invent. Dont worry people.
Then the Chinese will steal the plans.

waltky
11-20-2017, 09:22 PM
Thought they had rare earth metals of their own.

resister
11-20-2017, 09:24 PM
Thought they had rare earth metals of their own.
They plan to hold a monopoly on production, they will need all they can get. Simultaneously, extending their monopoly and squelching the competition.

jimmyz
11-20-2017, 09:26 PM
Maybe, but China invests heavily in higher education and many of the US-educated Chinese are going back home with their educations and knowledge acquired in those high tech fields. I wouldn't count my chickens....

In the last 120 years has anyone educated in America outdone us? Stop fearing the Mongoloid as well the Hun, Russ, Negroid and Semite.

Dr. Who
11-20-2017, 09:59 PM
In the last 120 years has anyone educated in America outdone us? Stop fearing the Mongoloid as well the Hun, Russ, Negroid and Semite.
120 years is a moment in the history of mankind. Civilizations rise and fall, particularly the great ones. Hubris is generally their undoing.