CATL looks to secure lithium supplies

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd bolstered its lithium supply in a series of deals that help the battery giant secure key resources for its long-term development of new energy vehicles.

Canada's Millennial Lithium Corp said on Tuesday that CATL will acquire Millennial for approximately 377 million Canadian dollars ($297 million). At 3.85 Canadian dollars per share, CATL outbid the 3.60-Canadian-dollar-per-share offer made in July by Ganfeng, one of the world's biggest producers of lithium.

The move followed Australia's AVZ Minerals announcement on Monday that it had secured $240 million in funding from a private investment firm jointly owned by CATL to develop the Manono project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Under the agreement, private equity firm Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies will get a 24 percent stake in the joint venture.

The Manono project in the DRC is one of the world's largest lithium-rich LCT, or lithium, cesium, tantalum, pegmatite deposits. Reserves reported stand at 269 million metric tons.

"It is not only China but also other countries that are scrambling to build bigger reserves of core raw minerals, which are key to lowering the high cost of NEVs. To persuade consumers to replace traditional gasoline-fueled cars with NEVs, the latter must be cost-effective," said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association.

Cui said that the high cost of NEVs presents a major bottleneck for any country aiming to achieve faster development in the sector. Acquisitions and investment are ways for domestic companies to effectively guarantee supply.

As of now, CATL has purchased stakes in a series of overseas projects, including Argentina-focused lithium company Lithium Corp, Canada's Neo Lithium Corp as well as Australia's Pilbara Minerals.

"CATL is clearly looking to speed up its capacity expansion with an eye on growing its global market share and is planning ahead for an anticipated boom in new energy vehicle sales," said Wang Jing, a research supervisor for high-end manufacturing at Shanghai Chaos Investment Group Co Ltd.

Since the beginning of this year, the price of battery metals has risen sharply worldwide. Australian lithium and tantalum producer Pilbara Minerals stunned the market when it announced that it had secured an offer of $2,240 per ton for a parcel of lithium-rich spodumene crystal.

Xin Guobin, vice-minister of industry and information technology, said that the ministry will speed up collaboration with other government departments to improve the supply guarantee system for key resources needed for NEVs, including lithium, cobalt and nickel.

According to the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, nearly 60 percent of the country's spodumene crystal has to be imported from abroad to produce lithium salts used in the manufacture of NEV batteries.

"Chinese companies should vigorously develop resource-friendly technological innovations like cobalt-free batteries and advanced battery recycling to reduce extreme dependence on such resources," said Roy Lu Yan, head of industrial research at battery giant Gotion High-Tech.