Battery materials
Overview
Growth in global electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) production has put a spotlight on battery materials. While lithium-ion batteries dominate the current market, this is a rapidly emerging technology space where improved range or charge times can quicky shift industry sentiment and investment in a different direction.
Argus is at the forefront of battery materials pricing and reporting with coverage of common battery metals (lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite), industry-grade cathodes and black mass. As experts in specialty metals and rare earths, we future-proof our price assessment portfolio with a range of electronic metals crucial to the manufacture of technology deployed in modern vehicles.
Our Argus Battery Materials and Argus Non-Ferrous Markets services help businesses to understand these complicated supply chains, including price volatility and sustainability challenges around future demand.
Minor metals: Battery metals
As automakers continue to invest in electric vehicle production and power companies explore infrastructure that includes energy storage programmes, the metals contained in lithium-ion batteries supporting these products has attracted interest from investors, institutions and manufacturers alike.
Argus is well positioned to provide insight into price volatility, global supply and responsible material sourcing for all manufacturers and investors in this sector.
Highlights of Argus battery materials coverage
- Understand the context of significant price movements and industry trends with a weekly PDF that highlights the most important market news across lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel and other common battery materials
- Mitigate risk and perform reliable forward planning with 1-year and 10-year forecasts across different battery metals, chemistries and industries
- Gain a competitive edge with industry-specific tools, such as the Black Mass Calculator that estimates the intrinsic value of different battery chemistries (including cathodes like NCM111, NCM523, LFP, NCA)
- Invest with confidence knowing Argus is IOSCO-compliant with over 50 years of experience delivering trusted price data and market intelligence
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UK DLE projects push for simpler Li buildouts
UK DLE projects push for simpler Li buildouts
London, 27 March (Argus) — Direct lithium extraction (DLE) projects will only achieve cashflow if flowsheets become simpler and early engineering is more disciplined, delegates heard on day two of the UK Direct Lithium Extraction Summit in Slough this week. Investors still focus on the reinjection stage, treating it as the main project risk, even when extraction workstreams perform well, UK developer Weardale Lithium's chief executive Stewart Dickson said. That focus pushes developers into a familiar dilemma. Either compress engineering schedules to hit funding windows — the "compress and repent later" approach that risks redesign downstream — or slow development to prove out the flowsheet before seeking capital, he said. This caution persists, even though lithium projects carry a far heavier front end metallurgical load than gold or copper projects, Dickson added. He also pointed to a mismatch between perceived and actual funding appetite, in that the UK and EU sit in the lowest formal risk bracket, yet capital flows readily into regions assumed to be less stable. Local resistance adds another drag, although public pushback has long shaped project pacing across Europe. These factors make a clear, early flowsheet essential, especially at a demonstration scale, Dickson said. The case for non-integrated Li projects A similar point was made from the refining end of the chain by Gemma Cooper, chief commercial officer at UK lithium refinery project Tees Valley Lithium. Many upstream developers attempt too many steps at once, aiming for battery-grade output from the start and carrying extraction, first stage refining and original equipment manufacturing (OEM) qualification risk in a single project team, she said. This has resulted in missed milestones and capital intensity that, in some cases, has climbed towards $100,000/t, rather than the roughly $10,000/t global average. A split model — upstream firms producing a technical grade carbonate and passing material to a specialist refiner — cuts risk and shortens timelines, Cooper said. Tees Valley Lithium has secured trader feedstock arrangements and early UK supply partnerships, giving the refinery flexibility while upstream firms avoid building every process block themselves. And qualification does not need to run for several years, Cooper said, adding that some OEMs complete approvals in around six months, when volumes and specifications are stable. Producers weigh increasing DLE technology options With many UK projects still at the pilot or pre-pilot stage, brine chemistry remains the first constraint. Absorption systems are currently the most widely deployed DLE route, but they tend to use more water and energy, and their performance drops when brine chemistry shifts. These limits are driving interest in more selective membrane or electrochemical systems, research firm IDTechEx's tech analyst Daniel Parr said. Although none will perform reliably without tight pre-treatment and thorough sampling. One electrochemical route came from Australian lithium tech developer ElectraLith. The company's container-based system removes most water and reagent needs and delivers hydroxide directly, chief executive Charlie McGill said, helping place the approach at the low end of cost curves when modelled on brines tested so far. Upcoming pilot units in Western Australia, the Lithium Triangle and the UK will show how far this process can simplify the final flowsheet, McGill said. Flowsheet remains defining bottleneck Flowsheet design itself remains the defining bottleneck. Most pilot failures stem not from a weak extraction step, but from poor integration between pre-treatment, extraction and polishing stages, ILiAD Technologies' commercial director Esteban Soto said. Failure often occurs because developers combine DLE packages that were never designed to run together. The only solid route through that challenge is sampling, according to Elena Gil Aunon, water manager at lithium refining partner Worley. Early samples and bench scale work are needed to catch silica, scaling and fouling risks that can undermine both DLE units and downstream membranes, Gil Aunon said. By Chris Welch Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
LatAm lithium feels scant impact from Iran war
LatAm lithium feels scant impact from Iran war
Sao Paulo, 25 March (Argus) — Latin America's geographic position, market structure and trade flows have left the region's lithium producers largely insulated from the side-effects of the war in the Middle East. The global lithium market has not felt an immediate impact from the US-Israeli war with Iran, although second and third-order consequences could affect the industry if the conflict persists. Examples include rising diesel and seaborne freight costs, which underpin mining operations worldwide, and supply disruptions affecting sulphur , a key feedstock in some spodumene projects globally. Those effects, however, are not expected to be pronounced in Latin America, as a combination of factors shield the region from the side-effects of the war. Minimal effects from rising diesel prices Rising diesel prices are the main worry, but operational impacts on local lithium producers remain minimal. In contrast to regular mining operations — in which tens of thousands of litres of diesel are consumed each month — brine-based lithium projects draw most of their energy from the sun. Lithium Argentina (LAR), one of Argentina's leading lithium miners, said less than 2pc of its operating costs are tied to diesel and natural gas. In Argentina, truck freight rates are a major component of operational costs for lithium producers because their projects are located up to 1,800km from Rosario and Buenos Aires, the country's main export hubs. Still, LAR's exposure to higher diesel prices since the Middle East war broke out remains under 5pc of its total operating costs, even including road freight from mine to port, according to chief executive Sam Pigott. In Chile, diesel has risen sharply this week , but projects are also brine-based and located much closer to ports and local refineries. Brazilian spodumene producers are more sensitive to fuel costs, given their heavy reliance on diesel. On 13 March, state-controlled Petrobras' wholesale diesel price rose by 11.5pc to 3.65 reals/l ($0.69/l or $2.62/USG) — a smaller increase, and lower absolute price than in other major lithium producing regions, such as China, Africa and Australia , curbing the impact on miners. Brazil's own diesel production, albeit insufficient to supply the entire domestic market, helps contain price surges. Brazil imports about 40pc of its diesel, mainly from Russia and the US, whose supply has not been affected by the war and de facto closure of the strait of Hormuz. But buyers in other countries have started to seek out more Russian and US product after Washington waived sanctions on Russian oil , intensifying the competition that Brazilian importers face. Still, flows are much less threatened than in Africa and Australia given Brazil's domestic output — even though further price rises may still materialise. Diesel also underpins soda ash and other feedstocks for lithium production, which could eventually lift input prices. But that has not occurred so far. "Our exposure is around what the diesel price is going to do, and if it forces higher input costs for us," Pigott said on 23 March. "So far, it seems minimal, if at all." Small impact on freight Shipping has felt indirect ripple effects from the closure of the strait of Hormuz worldwide, but Latin America's geographic position shields it from more intense shocks. None of Latin America's lithium-related trade routes pass near Hormuz, meaning that neither US-sourced soda ash nor lithium chemicals and spodumene exported to Asia face insurance risk or war surcharges. Still, container rates from Latin America to Asia have risen as the disruptions in and around Hormuz have tightened global container supply. But the increase has been modest on a per-ton basis, limiting its effect on large shipments such as lithium exports. Chile alone used around 1,222 containers for lithium shipments in February, according to Argus calculations. Argus -assessed seaborne freight rates between Argentina and Shanghai have risen by $18.50/t to $26.80/t since the war began, but the impact on fob Argentina lithium carbonate prices — less than 1pc against the current $19,090/t level — has been minimal. Bunker costs in the Americas also climbed more slowly than in other regions. Bunker fuel premiums in Singapore relative to the US Gulf coast have soared to their highest in five years since the war started, as regions dependent on bunker imports began competing for fuel. Meanwhile, in Latin America, prices for marine gasoil (MGO) and very-low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) at key ports — including San Antonio in Chile, Santos in Brazil and Zona Comun in Argentina — were as much as $100/t below international market levels. Sulphur shocks are also not a factor for Latin American lithium, as brine-based operations do not normally use it and Brazilian spodumene producers use electricity-powered dense media separation to concentrate their produce, not sulphuric acid or diesel-powered DMS as some of their counterparts do. Together, these factors are keeping Argentinian, Brazilian and Chilean producers' exposure limited. By Pedro Consoli, Gabriel Tassi Lara and Maria Albuquerque Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Battery metals mining faces diesel disruption
Battery metals mining faces diesel disruption
London, 24 March (Argus) — The Middle East energy and fuel crisis could place immediate pressure on battery metals mining, particularly where operations rely heavily on diesel for haulage, transport and on-site activity. But the effects would not be uniform across the supply chain. While upstream mining is most directly exposed to fuel availability and price shocks, logistics could affect the entire supply chain if primary production goes off line. Some mining operations in southern Africa, Australia and southeast Asia may be affected by diesel shortages and price increases, early assessments suggest. At least four refineries in the Mideast Gulf have some units closed, even as a precaution, following missile or drone attacks. But those that remain on line are mostly finding it impossible to export their products through the strait of Hormuz. The Mideast Gulf exported 53mn t of diesel and related gasoil products in 2025, according to Vortexa ship tracking, representing around 13pc of global shipments. Only two tankers carrying non-Iranian clean oil products have navigated the strait of Hormuz in the past couple of days . Ports in South Africa and Tanzania had around two months' worth of diesel in stock that is now moving towards the interior of Africa, a source at a copper/cobalt mining company in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) told Argus on 12 March. Some mining operations may be forced to reduce fuel consumption by mid-April if the strait of Hormuz does not open soon. Two other logistics companies in Zambia warned of fuel shortages — truckers will be in "limbo" from the first week in April, a source said. Zambia is a key route between the copperbelt and some of the ports on the east coast of South Africa, including Durban, which handles large volumes of copper and cobalt. Most copper/cobalt belt producers use diesel for logistics, open pit haulage and in some cases to power dense media separation machines that concentrate ore, and various other mine site activities. Around 80pc of the DRC's power comes from hydro-electricity, according to the IEA, although diesel generators are used in areas with limited connectivity and as a back-up. Much of this diesel comes through the eastern ports of Dar Es Salaam, Durban and Beira, which have so far experienced limited direct disruption to operations as a result of the US-Iran war. But if shipping continues to be disrupted in the Middle East, these key ports could become extremely crowded as vessels seek alternative stopping points for Asia-Europe-Africa trade. "They could be refuelling destinations or trans-shipping routes if the Red Sea closes," a trader said. Australia's acute exposure The Australian government has already lowered fuel standards in preparation for supply chain issues and there have been localised shortages at gas stations, mainly because of short-term panic-buying. But Australia is exposed to shortages as it sources most of its diesel from Asia, which gets it from the Middle East. Six fuel shipments to Australia were cancelled last week and government ministers warned that supply in the second half of April is uncertain. Australia's oil reserves were at 49 days last week, the IEA said, the lowest among member states. Hard-rock lithium mining in Australia is likely to face fuel pressures, particularly at the mine and concentrator level. Chinese market participants have already expressed concern to Argus over spodumene supply from April. Some of the largest lithium operations in the world, such as Greenbushes, Pilgangoora and Mt Marion, rely heavily on diesel for haulage, drilling and remote-site logistics, while electricity is primarily used for crushing, grinding and concentration. This makes upstream spodumene production one of the most directly exposed parts of the battery supply chain to a sustained fuel shock. While most large operators have fuel procurement strategies in place, sustained disruption to global diesel supply or sharp price increases could raise marginal production costs and put pressure on higher-cost producers. Indonesia nickel partially insulated Indonesia's nickel processing sector has a different exposure to the crisis, with greater threats to fertilisers like sulphur and sulphuric acid . High-pressure acid leach and nickel pig iron operations depend heavily on electricity, but much of this power is supplied by captive coal-fired plants located near the sites, rather than imported gas. This may provide some insulation from immediate gas supply disruptions. But the sector is not immune. Diesel is still required for mining and internal logistics, while broader energy market disruption could affect input costs and shipping. By Thomas Kavanagh Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
SE Asia's EV push intensifies as energy crunch drags on
SE Asia's EV push intensifies as energy crunch drags on
Singapore, 24 March (Argus) — Southeast Asian countries, hit by energy disruptions following the now weeks-long Middle East war, are now backing swifter electric vehicle (EV) transition in efforts to mitigate similar fallout in the future. Growing uncertainty in regional fuel supply has prompted countries in southeast Asia to diversify their energy or fuel import sources in the more immediate term. Meanwhile, a quicker shift to EVs and renewable energy is seen as a longer-term measure, even as EV sales in the region recorded big jumps in 2025. "This is a wake-up call," Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto said last week, in a call to push for electrification and renewable energy. Indonesia aims to have 100GW of solar power in "no later than two years", up from its current 11GW, he said, with earlier plans including battery energy storage system (Bess) deployments. "We will convert all motorcycles into electric motorcycles. All cars, all trucks, all tractors must [also] be electric," he added. Meanwhile, the Laos government has slashed EV fees and service charges by 30pc while raising charges for fuel vehicles by the same amount, according to a statement from the prime minister's office on 13 March. The government has also mandated that transport companies' EV fleet share reach at least 10pc by the end of 2026. The Laos government will also simplify import procedures for EVs and is considering raising the excise tax rate for fuel vehicles. The Vietnamese government called for 50pc of city public transport to switch to EVs and for greater biofuels use, according to a directive that it issued on 19 March. The directive was part of a sweeping energy conservation effort, with the government citing the country's dependence on energy imports given the current conflict in the Middle East. It also aims to further integrate Bess to support the power grid. Vietnam is already targeting up to 16.3GW of ESS by 2030. By June, Vietnam's finance ministry is required to look into measures to encourage EV production and adoption, according to the directive. Similar instructions went out to all its provinces and cities' people's committees, responsible for local administration. The government directed them to issue measures by September to promote EV charging station investment and develop "clean transportation vehicles", including electric public transport. The Philippines' senate committee's energy vice-chair Win Gatchalian last week also called for a quicker EV transition for its public utility vehicles (PUVs). The country's landmark Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act — authored by Gatchalian — is currently offering its EV drivers priority vehicle registration and renewal, alongside access to public charging infrastructure. The Philippines, under the more optimistic clean energy scenario in its EV roadmap , envisions 50pc EV adoption by 2040, or at least 10pc by 2040 under its conservative scenario. But dwindling incentives in other regional EV leaders such as Singapore and Thailand are also signalling hesitancy to extend domestic sales boosters in more mature EV markets. Thailand recorded a big jump in battery EV registrations in 2025. But the government altered its EV policy late last year to encourage exports instead of domestic sales to avoid a potential supply glut. Meanwhile, Singapore's preferential additional registration fee rebate, aimed at encouraging early de-registration of older, more pollutive cars, was cut by 45pc earlier this year, now capped at S$30,000 ($23,453). Its neighbour, Malaysia, removed its excise duty exemptions on completely built-up EVs since the beginning of 2026. By Joseph Ho Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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