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BATTERIES FOR E-CARS:
Industry warns of raw material shortages

• UPDATED ON 26.11.2017 - 05:26

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Germany relies entirely on imports of lithium and other raw materials - from difficult regions. The goal of keeping up with the boom of electric cars is at risk.

The industry warns the trend towards electric cars before shortage of raw materials. The strong dependence on imports from countries to which major political risks are attributed is of particular concern. Association and official representatives of the newspaper "Welt am Sonntag" said.
"The danger of bottlenecks in raw material supply is increasing. After all, demand is growing faster than production capacity, "said expert Matthias Wachter from the Federation of German Industries . "Without a sufficient supply, for example with cobalt, graphite, lithium or manganese, there will be no future technologies 'Made in Germany'."
"Fully dependent on imports"

Torsten Brandenburg of the German commodity agency (Dera) referred to the strong dependence of the economy on foreign suppliers. "In the raw materials, mainly metals, which are needed for the construction of batteries for electric cars, the German economy is completely dependent on imports." The offer is not only getting scarcer. Mine operators could also dictate prices.
"60 percent of the globally required cobalt comes from the Congo, 70 percent of the graphite from China," said Brandenburg. Lithium is predominantly promoted in three South American countries - with only four suppliers.


Of 53 mineral raw materials examined by Dera, only twelve were classified in the group with "low procurement risks" according to the report. "In all other cases, there are either only a few suppliers, or the raw materials are promoted in countries with increased political risks," explained Brandenburg.