In one of the clearest signs of a tight cobalt market, Volkswagen has failed to secure a long-term supply of cobalt used in electrical vehicle batteries.
The project will be the Japanese company’s first desalination plant and it is estimated to require an investment of around $623 million (70 billion Yen).
Albemarle said it could invest $1-billion in Chile over the next 5 years if request to the government to let it extract 125,000 tonnes per year is approved.
Arnoud Balhuizen, head of marketing at BHP, said the impact of the looming electric vehicle boom for raw materials producers would be felt first in the metals markets and only later in oil.
