It is reported that Tesla has signed a long-term nickel purchase agreement with vale, a Brazilian mining company. The move comes as Tesla actively seeks the raw material "nickel" needed for electric vehicle batteries. At present, Tesla's "nickel" materials are mainly supplied by Chinese suppliers. Analysts expect that more than 80% of the world's nickel processing is carried out in China, and 60% of the world's nickel ore is owned by the Chinese.
Under the agreement, Tesla will buy nickel from Vale's nickel mine in Canada, which produced 76000 tons of nickel last year. Last year, Tesla has signed a series of nickel purchase agreements.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, believes that nickel supply is one of the biggest challenges faced by Tesla in the process of expanding production. In addition, he complained about the "Crazy" rise in the price of lithium, another battery material, and said Tesla may have to enter the mining and refining field directly and on a large scale.
In 2020, musk urged miners to produce more nickel and said Tesla would sign huge purchase contracts with "efficient and environmentally friendly" nickel producers.
Since then, Tesla has been looking for new deals around the world to ensure supply. This is in sharp contrast to many of Tesla's competitors. Goldman Sachs recently said in a report that by 2030, the nickel demand of automobile manufacturers is expected to increase to 1.4 million tons from 176000 tons in 2021.
Tesla said in January this year that it would purchase 75000 tons of nickel concentrate from a project being developed by Toronto listed company Talon metals. Earlier, Tesla had reached an agreement with BHP Billiton to purchase nickel materials from a mine in Australia. In addition, Tesla also agreed to buy nickel from a nickel mine in New Caledonia, in which commodity trader Trafigura holds a partial stake.
Boosted by strong demand in the automotive industry, nickel prices have risen nearly 50 per cent this year to $30000 per ton. In March this year, it briefly hit a high price of $100000 per ton.