Europe is running out of time to secure the metals it needs to power the energy transition…The region's import dependency for enabling metals was already high and has turned critical since Russia's invasion of Ukraine…The Green Deal will play a crucial role in reducing Europe's fossil fuel dependency but "without a more strategic approach to developing primary and secondary raw material capacities in Europe there will be no green and digital transition," according to Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market. Watch here…"The global energy transition is progressing faster than the mining project pipeline, with copper, cobalt, lithium, nickel, and rare earths all at risk of a disruptive demand pull between now and 2035," said the study by Belgium's KU Leuven University…"Recycling could be Europe's major supply source for most transition metals", but only after 2040, according to the study…Until then the Green Deal is still going to need new mines and more refining capacity…The problem is that a new mine needs 15 years to move through the planning, permitting and construction stages, Mikael Staffas, Eurometaux president and CEO of Swedish metals group Boliden, told the panel discussion accompanying the release of the report…Given the collective aim is to hit carbon neutrality by 2050, such extended time-lines mean "we need to work on it now"…However, existing EU regulations have also created multiple unintended hindrances to getting new mine projects off the ground…Europe's race to achieve what it calls "strategic autonomy" in critical minerals and metals is also being massively complicated by disruption to global supply chains…Policymakers are having to adjust quickly to the fact that two major suppliers - Russia and China - will "no longer be providing," said Kerstin Jorna, director general of the Commission's GROW department…That's lent added urgency to pivoting away from both countries and the EU is already working with friendlier nations such as the United States, Canada and Japan with a view to making coordinated "better offers" for new mine acquisition and development, she said…Europe's mineral ambitions risk being frustrated by both a lack of coherent policy framework to stimulate domestic supply and a rapidly-changing global landscape where everyone is trying to secure enough electric vehicle metals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel…"Europe should learn from that" and use its diplomatic muscle to secure critical mineral supplies "now," said Julia Poliscanova, senior director at clean energy campaign group Transport and Environment…A raw materials act (title to be confirmed) is coming "soon", according to Jorna…It needs to. The faster Europe can go green, the faster it can reduce its Russian oil dependence…As Bentele summed up the dilemma, "we cannot have war in Europe and miss the Green Deal objectives."

Miner and commodities trader Glencore touted on Thursday prospects for its trading unit, saying it faces another strong year as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to drive up prices of most commodities the company mines and sells…Following a 14% drop in copper production in Q1, Glencore cut its 2022 guidance for the metal by 3% or 40,000 tonnes. It also lowered its cobalt outlook goals by 6% or 3,000 tonnes because of setbacks at the Katanga mine, in the southern copper belt of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)…Glencore’s production update comes ahead of its annual shareholder meeting in Switzerland, where the firm is expected to face shareholders backlash due to what they think has been a “very slow” progress towards the goal of scaling back coal production.

CATL, the world's largest electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturer, reported a 23.6% drop in the first quarter profit on Friday, its first fall in two years, as it battles soaring raw material costs and a resurgence of COVID-19 in China…CATL, whose clients include Tesla, Volkswagen and BMW, booked a net profit of 1.49 billion yuan ($226.69 million), a filing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange showed…That was down from 1.95 billion yuan profit a year earlier despite a big jump in revenue to 48.68 billion yuan from 19.17 billion yuan a year earlier…Prices of key metals such as lithium nearly doubled in the first three months, weighing on CATL's profit margins and prompting it to raise battery prices in March…Like its rivals, CATL is ramping up production and mineral sourcing to meet growing demand for electric vehicles…Consulting firm Wood Mackenzie says CATL is on track to more than triple its cell manufacturing capacity by 2025.

After Ford showed off the first F-150 Lightning electric pickups at its plant in Dearborn, Michigan, this week, I caught up with Bill Ford, the chair and founding family scion, and asked what I confessed was a geeky question: Where will Ford get all the lithium and other metals for the many electric vehicles the company plans to produce?...“It’s not a geeky question; it’s a good question,” Ford said. Echoing his crosstown counterpart, General Motors Chair Mary Barra, Ford said his company had secured enough supply of battery metals including lithium, cobalt and manganese to make 2 million EVs a year by 2026. But beyond that, the U.S. industry needs to grow a domestic business because America just plain doesn’t make enough of the raw materials that go into EV batteries…Bill Ford said his company is in regular conversations with the federal government to foster mining and manufacturing of key battery materials. He said Ford has had conversations with the Biden administration and members of Congress to make it happen…“Down the line, there is the whole supply base issue, not only in terms of raw materials but where are they going to be made,” Ford said. “Are we going to have a national effort to ensure that we have an American supply base for a lot of these things? As we think about infrastructure that needs to be built out and the supply base we’d like to have in America, it’s going to require some partnerships with federal and local governments.”…For now, carmakers are at the mercy of a far-flung group of miners and suppliers that are racing to keep up with demand for electric vehicles. Prices are soaring: lithium alone has risen more than 200% since Tesla’s Model 3 first shipped in July 2017, notes Grayson Brulte, who consults carmakers on government affairs. Price hikes like that are surely setting off alarm bells in Dearborn and Detroit

Elon Musk may be worried about the shortage of lithium for electric car batteries, but General Motors Co.’s Mary Barra says her company has secured what it needs…GM’s chief executive officer is confident the automaker will have enough materials to build 400,000 electric vehicles this year and in 2023, and to get to 2 million battery-powered cars a year by 2025. That’s when GM will be ramping up production of about 30 electric models globally.

US Senator Marco Rubio is seeking information from Volkswagen AG about a pair of planned joint ventures with companies accused of having a record of alleged human rights violations such as forced labor and human trafficking…Rubio, a Florida Republican known for his hawkish stance on China, wants the German automaker to explain its decision to seek partnerships with the two Chinese companies to supply nickel, cobalt, lithium and other materials used to make batteries for electric vehicles, according to a letter viewed by Bloomberg News…Addressed to VW Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess, the senator’s April 27 inquiry cites Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. and Tsingshan Holding Group Co., the world’s largest producer of nickel, as being companies accused of ethically dubious operations in Africa and Southeast Asia…The probe is part of a broader debate over humanitarian issues in supply chains for materials needed in clean energy technology. Many of the inputs are reliant on China or require metals sourced from environmentally-sensitive areas or countries where child labor in cobalt mines has been an issue…Huayou has faced accusations of complicity in the use of child labor in the DRC and of doing too little to help improve working conditions while Tsingshan has seen opposition from some concerned over the impact of development projects in Indonesia on the environment and in remote communities…Volkswagen, which is working on the industry’s biggest rollout of electric models, announced its intention to form strategic partnerships with the two Chinese firms earlier this year, saying the prospective deals would help cut costs for the lithium-ion battery cells core to powering EVs.

Serbia on Thursday signed a 190 million euro ($199.67 million) deal with Franco-Italian car maker Stellantis for the production of an electric vehicle at its car manufacturing plant in Kragujevac…"A new era begins today," President Aleksandar Vucic said after the signing ceremony. He said electric vehicle production should start at the beginning of 2024…Fiat Chrysler (FCA), which is part of Stellantis, produces motor vehicles at the Kragujevac plant and is among Serbia's top ten exporters.