- According to CEO Christel Bories, the French mining company Eramet is negotiating business deals with a number of European automakers to help fund its lithium manufacturing project in Argentina.
- Bories confirmed commodities group Glencore was among the parties to have expressed interest in helping finance Eramet’s lithium production in Argentina.
According to CEO Christel Bories, the French mining company Eramet is negotiating business deals with a number of European automakers to help fund its lithium manufacturing project in Argentina. In response to growing tensions between the United States and China, which are forcing European manufacturers to safeguard their own supply chains, the battle for lithium, a crucial raw material used to make batteries for electric vehicles, is accelerating.
At a business conference in the city of Aix-en-Provence in the southeast, Bories said, “We’re talking with a lot of OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers, or carmakers) today,” adding that they included French ones. Regarding the company’s lithium project in Argentina, she stated, “We’re currently discussing potential commercial agreements,” noting that they involve cooperative marketing and so-called offtake deals or pledges to buy a specific amount of the impending supply.
Eramet is due to start lithium production next year in Argentina in partnership with Chinese steel group Tsingshan, and has said it is interested in studying other potential sites in a lithium-rich zone of South America that also includes Chile. “We’re positioning ourselves (in Chile), we have discussions with state-owned companies,” Bories said, with the aim to gain potential lithium concessions “in the coming months.”
With fuel prices skyrocketing, demand for electric vehicles (EVs) has surged as environmentally aware buyers buy automobiles with electric powertrains. Bories revealed that one of the firms that had indicated interest in helping to finance Eramet’s lithium production in Argentina was the commodities giant Glencore.