"We are very strong on nickel fundamentals," chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer Emily Olson told the CERAWeek energy conference.

LG Energy alleges that Sigma is in breach of certain provisions in connection to a lithium supply agreement entered in 2021.

Rio is working to begin production by the end of the year at Rincon.

Any increase in cobalt holdings would be aimed at reducing reliance on China, which dominates the processing of the material.

Prateek Gupta was last year accused by commodities giant Trafigura Group of orchestrating a massive fraud against it.

The lithium supply chain is maturing but the metal's pricing seems trapped at the early development stage.

In 2023, Indonesia produced 193.5 million tonnes of nickel ore.

In October, Li-Cyle paused the construction of its flagship battery recycling facility and later said it was evaluating financing and strategic alternatives.