Twitter
Boston-Bay-Mines-Announcement

Metals and Manufacturing

Lithium Prices Soar, Turbocharged By Electric-Vehicle Demand and Scant Supply – by Amrith Ramkumar (Wall Street Journal – December 13, 2021)

https://www.wsj.com/

The lithium price surge is setting off a scramble for supply and fueling fears about long-term battery metals shortages

Lithium prices are rising at their fastest pace in years, setting off a race to secure supplies and fueling worries about long-term shortages of a vital ingredient in the rechargeable batteries that power everything from electric vehicles to smartphones.

An index of lithium prices from research firm and price provider Benchmark Mineral Intelligence doubled between May and November and is up some 240% for the year. The index is at its highest level in data going back five years.

Read more

Mandatory EV sales quotas needed by end of next year: Guilbeault – by Mia Rabson (Canadian Press/Toronto Sun – December 10, 2021)

https://torontosun.com/

OTTAWA — Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says he wants a national mandate that would force auto dealers to sell a certain number of electric vehicles to be in place by the end of next year.

Road transportation accounts for one-fifth of Canada’s total greenhouse-gas emissions. As Canada charts a path to net zero by 2050, eliminating carbon dioxide from passenger cars is a big part of the process.

Read more

Canada threatens U.S. with tariffs, partial suspension of CUSMA over electric vehicle tax credit – by Peter Zimonjic (CBC News Politics – December 10, 2021)

https://www.cbc.ca/

Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland and International Trade Minister Mary Ng made threat in letter to U.S. senators

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has written to top U.S. senators threatening to suspend parts of the CUSMA trade agreement and impose tariffs on American goods unless U.S. officials back away from a proposed tax credit for American-built electric vehicles.

“We are deeply concerned that certain provisions of the electric vehicle tax credits as proposed in the Build Back Better Act violate the United States’ obligations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” Freeland and International Trade Minister Mary Ng say in the letter.

Read more

In shadow of U.S. protectionism, Canada in heated battle for EV battery manufacturing – by Adam Radwanski and Laura Stone (Globe and Mail – December 8, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada is racing to close deals for new plants to produce electric-vehicle batteries amid an increasingly heated North America-wide competition for investment in EV manufacturing.

Government negotiations with at least three companies looking to make major battery-building investments have reached a critical stage, sources familiar with the talks confirmed on Wednesday.

Read more

Team Canada trip to kill Biden’s EV tax credit advanced cause – by Charlie Pinkerton (iPolitics.ca – December 6, 2021)

https://ipolitics.ca/

A Canadian delegation sent to Washington to compel American lawmakers to kill a protectionist proposal by U.S. President Joe Biden says progress was made, even though it returned to Canada without any assurances from said lawmakers.

The electric-vehicle (EV) tax credit is part of the Build Back Better Act, an omnibus bill that Democrats passed through the House of Representatives and are now trying to get through the Senate.

Read more

Motor Mouth: America’s rush to EVs might kill the entire Canadian auto parts business – by David Booth (Driving.ca – November 26, 2021)

https://driving.ca/

‘Build Back Better’ may stimulate the American auto industry, but it will kill Canada’s

“This discriminatory action” could be the “death knell” of the Canadian auto industry . So says Flavio Volpe, and he should know, since he’s the president of the Auto Parts Manufacturers’ Association of Canada, the organization tasked with, amongst other things, enticing automakers and their associated suppliers to build their production plants here in the Great White North.

And if he says something could adversely affect the Canadian auto manufacturing business — which employs some 135,000 Canadians directly and another 400,000 in related industries — we should all be concerned.

Read more

Northern Ontario plays integral part in auto supply chain – Fedeli – by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles (North Bay Nugget – November 19, 2021)

https://www.nugget.ca/

Northern Ontario has become an integral part of the auto supply chain, says Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli. The industry, mostly centralized in southern Ontario, is moving north thanks to the increase in production of electric cars.

The provincial government released the next phase of its auto strategy Wednesday that is expected to secure production mandates for hybrid and electric vehicles, to create a domestic battery ecosystem, and position Ontario as a North American automotive innovation hub.

Read more

Why the U.S. doesn’t take us seriously – by John Ivison (National Post – November 18, 2021)

https://nationalpost.com/

One early December morning in 2016, Joe Biden got up, inquired into President Barack Obama’s health, and set off for a snowy Ottawa.

The lame duck vice-president was feted at a ritzy state dinner in the capital, where he called on Justin Trudeau to be a defender of the international “rules of the road” during the period of deep uncertainty he predicted would follow Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 45th president of the United States.

“We’re more like family even than allies. I mean that sincerely,” he said – repeatedly.

Read more

Ontario EV plan aims for more production, battery plants – by Jeff Gray and Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 18, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has unveiled an electric vehicle strategy that aims to have the province produce 400,000 electric cars and trucks a year by 2030 and attract two or three battery plants.

The plan, released on Wednesday at a campaign-style event at auto parts maker Linamar in Guelph, Ont., about 100 kilometres west of Toronto, says the province will partner with the industry to prepare it to make the “car of the future” and “establish and support a battery chain ecosystem” using the mineral wealth in Northern Ontario.

Read more

UN at COP26: “Enough of mining…we are digging our own graves” – by Frik Els (Mining.com – November 2, 2021)

https://www.mining.com/

It did not take long for COP26 to turn into a farce this week with UN Secretary General António Guterres pleading with the gathered highnesses and excellencies to declare enough is enough.

Socialist party ex-PM of Portugal, Guterres delivered a rousing 10-minute speech at the opening ceremony saying (around the 0:45 mark) “we face a stark choice – either we stop it or it stops us”:

Read more

Ford government pushes back against Biden’s protectionist stance on auto manufacturing – by Brian Lilley (Toronto Sun – October 28, 2021)

https://torontosun.com/

The Ford government is reaching out to top American politicians in the hopes of thwarting the latest protectionist measure coming from Washington. A proposed tax rebate on electric cars currently before the U.S. Congress could have a devastating impact on the future of Ontario’s auto industry.

The rebate, part of the Build Back Better budget bill, would offer American consumers a rebate of up to $12,500 for purchasing an electric vehicle but only if the car is assembled in the United States with 50% American parts and an American made battery.

Read more

Dreams of making Canada an EV battery manufacturing hot spot stuck in neutral as country ‘keeps missing out’ – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – October 27, 2021)

https://financialpost.com/

Four out of the five automakers in Canada have announced plans to build battery manufacturing facilities in the U.S.

Ever since U.S. President Joe Biden announced in March that his administration would invest US$174 billion “to win” the electric vehicle market, Canadian industry officials have been wondering how that influx of money would affect this country’s auto sector.

Batteries are expected to supplant the engine as the central and most valuable component in a vehicle, and so industry groups are keen to see at least one major battery cell manufacturing plant built in Canada to ensure the industry remains vibrant in the future.

Read more

Canada says proposed U.S. EV tax credit could harm sector, mulls possible challenge – by David Shepardson and David Ljunggren (Reuters/MSN.com – October 22, 2021)

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/

WASHINGTON/OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada said on Friday that U.S. proposals to create new electric vehicle tax credits for American-built vehicles could harm the North American auto industry and fall foul of trade agreements, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Separately, a Canadian government source expressed confidence a solution would eventually be reached but said Ottawa might have to launch a challenge through the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal.

Read more

Automakers are spending billions to produce battery cells for EVs in the U.S. – by Michael Wayland (CNBC.com – October 19, 2021)

https://www.cnbc.com/

As supply chains remain in distress across the globe, automakers are spending billions to move production of battery cells to their home countries to meet what’s expected to be rapidly growing demand for electric vehicles over the next decade.

Automakers from Detroit to Japan plan to simplify supply chains to lower costs, ease logistics and avoid massive disruptions. A global shortage of semiconductor chips has highlighted the industry’s reliance on overseas manufacturers for the parts.

Read more

Global shortage of magnesium to cripple car industry – by Cecilla Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 19, 2021)

https://www.mining.com/

The world’s top automakers face disruption from tight global supplies of magnesium, as China’s power crisis threatens availability of the key component used to make aluminum, Germany’s association of metals producers WVM said on Tuesday.

European magnesium stocks have been particularly affected by the lack of supplies from China, which has a near monopoly on the magnesium market, the association said in a letter to the German government. The worst part of this shortage is about to come, it noted.

Read more