Battery Metals Report 2024/11
The establishment of electric transportation is a foregone conclusion. Even though there have recently been many calls for a return to the combustion engine, mainly because many car manufacturers have missed the boat on the electric revolution, the electric car will clearly prevail over combustion engines in the next 10 years. Some impressive figures alone show that this is already in full swing. For example, the demand for nickel alone for battery production increased tenfold between 2017 and 2023 and now accounts for 16% of total global nickel demand! Lithium demand increased almost six-fold and cobalt demand quadrupled, even though cobalt is increasingly being displaced in favor of nickel in rechargeable batteries. Leading industry experts - including those from Benchmark Minerals - expect demand from the battery sector to double again by 2030, and even quadruple in the case of nickel.
Some figures clearly show that this is not wishful thinking on the part of electric car fanatics. Around 14 million electric cars were produced worldwide in 2023 - 35% more than a year earlier. Industry experts expect a further increase of 20% to 17 million electric vehicles in 2024 and at least 23 million units in 2025. In addition, the capacities of the batteries required are increasing faster and faster, from around 46 KWh in 2022 to around 54 KWh in 2025. Such a battery requires a large amount of corresponding materials, such as 24 kilograms of cobalt and nickel, 4 kilograms of lithium and a lot of steel, aluminum, manganese and graphite. Large quantities of copper and tin are also required for the connection between the battery and all electrical components within an electric vehicle.
For almost all of these materials, supply has been unable to keep up with demand for several years now, and in the case of copper, a huge supply deficit will emerge in several years' time, which will be difficult to cover even with new mines.
Investors therefore have an excellent opportunity to enter the world of battery metals right now.
