EV battery recycling to start scaling up by 2025
Battery metals recycling is expected to begin scaling up by 2025 but will not alleviate tightening raw material supply until the late 2020s.
Recycled lithium is expected to account for 3-4pc of global lithium supply by 2025 and to rise rapidly from there. Battery recycler Umicore expects growth by 2025 in battery recycling, and German battery materials maker BASF predicts that recycling will reach scale in the sector within a decade. VW Group expects "large quantities of battery returns" by the end of the 2020s.
Rapid growth in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing by 2025 is expected to cause shortages in supply of cobalt in particular. A JP Morgan report last year forecast a tightening of cobalt supply as early as 2023, despite an expected shift towards battery chemistries with lower cobalt content and its below-consensus prediction for EV penetration growth. "Recycling can help alleviate some of the tightness, although we do not expect meaningful volumes in the near term," the report said.
At this stage, too few EVs are reaching the end of their life cyle to provide the scrap volume for large-scale recycling. Recycled portable electronics still provide most of the volume.
Umicore has a pilot plant in Hoboken, Belgium, which can recycle up to 7,000 t/yr of lithium batteries to extract lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and rare earths. The company plans to scale up as EV recycling rises to higher volumes, but has not yet decided on a location.
Belgium-based metals producer and recycler Umicore has been working towards a complete European supply chain for EVs. Last October, the company signed agreements with BMW and Audi (part of VW) to supply recycled battery materials.
BMW will produce EVs using batteries made by Northvolt in Gdansk, Poland, starting later this year. From next year Swedish lithium battery developer Northvolt will use its own lithium cells, made at its planned Gigafactory in Skelleftea, Sweden. Umicore will complete the chain by supplying materials to Northvolt.
Umicore has agreed to work with Audi towards closed-loop recycling in EVs. Audi has demonstrated in lab tests that 95pc of battery metals are recoverable from its EV batteries.
Carmakers too will start to recycle EV batteries. VW plans to open a pilot recycling plant in 2020 in Salzgitter, Germany with capacity of 1,200 t/yr. The company aims to ultimately recycle 97pc of all battery raw materials, up from 53pc.
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US OCTG, line pipe imports fall in July
US OCTG, line pipe imports fall in July
Houston, 29 August (Argus) — Preliminary data from the US Department of Commerce shows that imports of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and line pipe products fell in July. OCTG volumes fell by 88,100 metric tonnes (t) from the prior year, as volumes from Japan dropped by 15,500t, South Korea and Thailand both dropped by 13,500t, and volumes from Vietnam and Mexico fell by 11,300t and 9,300t, respectively. Volumes of line pipe less than or equal to 16in fell by 12,300t, as Italian volumes dropped by 4,500t, Ukraine dropped to zero from 4,400t in the prior year, and Brazilian volumes fell by 3,100t. Standard pipe imports increased by 13,400t on a 7,900t increase from Turkey. Heavy structural shape volumes jumped by 39,700t as Spanish volumes increased by 21,700t from the prior year, and imports from Germany rose by 9,200t. By Rye Druzchetta US pipe and tube imports metric tonnes Product Jul-24 Jul-23 Volume change ±% Jun-24 OCTG 95,792 183,909 -88,117 -47.9% 126,760 Line pipe 69,387 80,875 -11,488 -14.2% 87,976 Standard 66,100 52,716 13,384 25.4% 76,317 Heavy Structural Shapes 107,979 68,253 39,726 58.2% 54,096 US Department of Commerce July 2024 data is preliminary data, which is subject to change. Line pipe is all diameters. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Higher flats volumes lead US steel imports up
Higher flats volumes lead US steel imports up
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ThyssenKrupp Steel executives leave as tensions rise
ThyssenKrupp Steel executives leave as tensions rise
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