Episode 140 of Joe Lowry’s podcast is an interesting listen. My key takeaways:

• JL expects SQM June qtr contract pricing to be in the high $40/kg to mid $50/kg range. This would be up from $38/kg in the March qtr. My view - its looking increasingly likely contract prices for battery quality carbonate will be in the $60-70/kg range heading into 2023 – i.e. very close to the current spot price.
• JL said DOE not moving fast enough with the loan program. He called out Jigar Shah (Director of Loans Program Office) on this. What does this say about the progress of LAC’s loan application?
• JL continued his criticism of Ford and GM flawed lithium procurement strategies. I guess Ford and GM unlikely to be LAC partners!
• There was talk at the LAC Technical Center opening of Nevada becoming a hub for the lithium-ion battery supply chain (Panasonic/Tesla, Redwood, Albermarle, Thacker Pass).

Speaking of Redwood, they are aiming for cathode active material (CAM) production capacity to enable the production of 1m electric vehicles by 2025, and 5m by 2030 (nearly half of the US’ expected annual EV production). That will require lithium chemical procurement of 60ktpa and 300ktpa LCE respectively. CAM is the next step in the lithium-ion battery supply chain, after chemical production. As far as I am aware, there is no current CAM production in the US of any scale. Some of the LCE that Redwood will require will come from recycling, but not much in the early years. Anyway, they could easily take 100% of TP’s output, and still not have enough. Redwood is based in Carson City (~200mi from TP) but they haven’t yet announced the location of their CAM plant. I am guessing it will be in Nevada also.  Sourcing their lithium from South American or Australian raw materials does not fit with their sustainable business model, in my view. Redwood and LAC teaming up in some way looks so obvious.