Battery Metals

Gold prices rose on Thursday in holiday-thinned trade, while markets await clues on the Federal Reserve’s 2025 rate plan and tariff policies from the incoming Trump administration. Spot gold rose 0.5% to $2,627.62 per ounce, as of 0953 GMT. U.S. gold futures added 0.3% to $2,642.30. Markets in the euro zone are closed on Thursday […]

Nippon Steel’s $15 billion bid for US Steel has been referred to US President Joe Biden, a White House spokesman said, giving the president 15 days to decide on a tie up he has previously said he opposes. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews foreign investments in the US […]

Chinese curbs on exports of three niche metals to the US have already rattled the market. Now, a bigger clampdown looks set to have far-reaching ramifications for supply chains feeding American defense and chip-making industries. Beijing this month slapped a ban on US-bound exports of gallium, germanium and antimony in a tit-for-tat move in a […]

In the race to field EV batteries that promise the longest driving distances and the fastest recharge capabilities, one particular quality often gets overlooked in the marketing frenzy, and that’s the ability of the current crop of lithium-ion batteries to cool themselves. In fact, it seems the only time we hear about the thermal safety […]

Nickel hit a four-year low as a lackluster outlook from the Federal Reserve for next year outweighed the possibility of sharp mining cuts in Indonesia. Futures on the London Metal Exchange dropped as much as 2.3% Thursday, to the lowest level since November 2020. The commodity used in electric-vehicle batteries has been one of the […]

In a significant boost for the US EV industry, Ford’s joint venture, BlueOval SK, has closed a $9.63 billion loan from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loans Programs Office. The DOE loan will go toward the construction of three state-of-the-art battery manufacturing plants – one in Tennessee and two in Kentucky – as Ford scales […]

German automaker Volkswagen (ETR: VOW3) announced on Wednesday its acquisition of a 9.9% stake in Canadian lithium company Patriot Battery Metals (TSX: PMET) (ASX: PMT) for $48 million. This marks the first time Volkswagen and its battery subsidiary, PowerCo, have directly invested in the lithium supply chain, as the company aims to secure raw material […]

Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump’s transition team is recommending sweeping changes to cut off support for electric vehicles and charging stations and to strengthen measures blocking cars, components and battery materials from China, according to a document seen by Reuters. The recommendations, which have not been previously reported, come as the U.S. electric-vehicle transition stalls and […]

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery manufacturers must detect various physical flaws during production to ensure safe, reliable performance. Failure to detect even minute defects could lead to internal short circuits, overheating, fire, explosion, diminished function, costly product recalls and serious reputation damage. Li-ion batteries can produce gas under stress and a process called gas evolution can lead […]

A growing wave of protectionism is sweeping across 72 nations, as governments scramble to secure access to critical minerals essential for strategic industries, new research by global risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft shows. The study reveals a surge in state intervention not seen in Western democracies since the early 20th century, driven by concerns over […]