Battery Customers Rush to Secure Cobalt Supplies

Article By : Jonas Klar, EE Times Asia

Large corporations no longer content on relying on battery OEMs, looking to secure exclusive deals.

Apple, among others, is looking into buying cobalt directly from miners in an effort to secure a stable supply, reports Bloomberg.

Having seen the metal triple in price to $80,000 per ton over the last 18 months due increasing demand for cobalt in EV batteries, Apple is aiming to secure its own cobalt supply rather than relying on OEMs. As one of the world’s largest consumers of the metal, Apple is reported to be discussing multi-year contracts with mines for quantities of “several thousand metric tons” per annum.

Manufacturers of electric vehicles and batteries, such as BMW, Volkswagen, and Samsung SDI, are also understood to be on the market a cobalt supply sooner rather than later, with BMW having been quoted as being close to finalizing a ten-year deal in early February. Other actors have been more tight-lipped on the subject, with any deals yet to be announced.

Leave a comment