Issue 54, April 01st April 15th

Transcription

1 Issue 54, April 01st April 15th

2 CONTENT Batteries and Vehicles Clariant Lithium Group opens C-LiFePO4 plant US Energy Department announced new program for energy storage technologies China BAK Battery Inc. received government subsidy and announced new contract with Chery Automobile Lithium Industry 1Introduction Three aspects are crucial for the development and implementation of electric cars: safety, performance and cost. Many initiatives have been announced in the last years with the objective of improving the performance and safety of the energy storage technologies in these vehicles; actually in the last week the US Energy Department announced a US$ 30 million program for the next generation of energy storage devices. Costs are also expected to decrease in time. Recently a study quoted by Bloomberg (April 16th) reported that the battery cost dropped 30% from 2009 reaching US$ 689 the cost per KWh and is expected to reach about US$ 150 in What are the main cost drivers? Mainly the million of dollars that Companies have spent on Research and Development. In this context, it can be expected that it is a matter of economic of scale to keep this cost decreasing in time. Oil price also plays an important role: higher gasoline prices makes electric cars much more attractive to buy. In the next edition of the signumbox Analysis report we are going to present an update of the model that shows the relationship between oil price, economic cycle and hybrid car sales in the US. Talison Lithium Q production and sales volume Galaxy Resources produced lithium carbonate at its Jiangsu plant International Lithium and Gangfeng Lithium closed private placement

3 2 Batteries and Vehicles BRIEF NEWS HIGHLIGHTS Infiniti LE concept debuts at New York International Auto Show Date: April 5th Source: Nissan Motor Co. Infiniti introduced at the 2012 New York International Auto Show the new Infiniti LE Concept Zero Emission, a luxury sedan powered by a compact 24 KWh lithium-ion battery which was designed for a ChaDeMo DC50kW quick charger. Clariant Lithium Group opens C-LiFePO4 plant Date: April 2nd Source: Clariant Lithium Group In order to meet the increasing demand of cathode materials for rechargeable batteries, Phostech Lithium Inc. -a Clariant Group Company- announced the official opening of a new battery materials manufacturing plant in Candiac, Canada. The plant would produce carbon coated lithium iron phosphate (C-LiFePO4), a material used in batteries for electric vehicles, energy storage and other applications. US Energy Department announced new program for energy storage technologies Date: April 11th Source: US Department of Energy The US Department of Energy announced a US$ 30 million program that would engage US scientist, engineers and entrepreneurs in improving the performance and safety of energy storage devices. The Energy Department also announced the AMPED program ( Advanced Management and Protection of Energy Storage Devices ), which main objective is the creation of a new generation of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles.

4 Ube Industries will add a lithium-ion battery separator facility Date: April 05th Source: Ube Industries In order to response to the growing demand for lithiumion batteries separators, Ube Industries announced that it would add a production facility of battery separators in early 2013 to further expand it by the end of With this expansion Ube Industries will increase the total production capacity to about 200 million square meters. Renault provides electric vehicle to Orange Group Date: April 05th Source: Renault China BAK Battery Inc. received government subsidy and announced new contract with Chery Automobile Date: April Various Source: China BAK China BAK Battery Inc. announced that it has received $1.9M government subsidy for its battery module project from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). China BAK s battery module is comprised of cylindrical cells that can be used in electric vehicles, electric motors, electric bicycles and power storage. According to the Company, the government funds would be used to further develop the battery module s efficiency and environmental-friendliness. Additionally the Company announced that it has signed a new supply agreement with Chery Automobile Co. for the supply of 1,000 lithium-ion battery units in 2012 for Chery s M1 electric vehicle. BAK Battery also informed that it has received new orders from its e-bike customers and expects to deliver 12,000 high-power lithiumion battery units to its e-bike customers by the end of April In order to meet Orange Group s target of reducing CO2 emissions and energy consumption, Renault will provide to the Group 100 Renault Twizys which is an all electric quadricycle that is powered by a 6KWh lithium ion battery. IBM and ZSE studies EV charging Station Options in Central Europe Date: April 09th Source: IBM In order to identify the possibilities of connecting the cities of Bratislava, Slovakia and Vienna through a highway with a network of public charging stations, IBM and the distributor and supplier of electricity in Slovakia ZSE announced that they started to work on a smart energy feasibility study that will identify new opportunities around e-mobility.

5 3 Lithium Industry BRIEF NEWS HIGHLIGHTS Hagan Investment funds Lithium Exploration s Valleyview Project Date: April 02nd Source: Lithium Exploration Group In order to move forward with the Valleyview Lithium Project in Canada, Lithium Exploration Group announced that Hagan Investment has exercised an investment right for the funding of the next stage of the project which includes bench scale testing, an expanded analysis of the resource and an economic feasibility study. Talison Lithium Q production and sales volume Date: April 12th Source: Talison Lithium Talison Lithium announced preliminary sales volume and production results for the three months ended March 31, The Company also informed that the Greenbushes Project s stage 2 expansion continues on schedule and on budget. Main results for Q3 FY2012: US$ currency Sales volume (metric tones) 111,896 97,001 Production volume (metric tones) 93,563 88,315 Average sales price US$ 340 US$ 303 per tonne per tonne *Volume presented as lithium concentrate

6 BRIEF NEWS Rockwood will be trade under the name Rockwood Lithium Date: April 2nd Source: Rockwood Lithium In order to unify the currently Rockwood brand names which includes Chemetall, Chemetall Foote and SCL, Rockwood Holdings Inc. announced that its global lithium business will trade under the brand Rockwood Lithium. Galaxy Resources produced lithium carbonate at its Jiangsu plant Date: April Various Source: Galaxy Resources Limited Galaxy Resources informed the first lithium carbonate production at its A$100M Jiangsu Lithium Carbonate Plant in China. The Company expects the plant to meet its 17,000 tpa. design capacity in a twelve month period. In addition, Galaxy Resources announced that it has raised A$30 million via a Placement in order to support the merger with Lithium One Inc. International Lithium and Gangfeng Lithium closed private placement Date: April 10th Source: International Lithium International Lithium Corp. announced that it has closed a private placement with Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd., for gross proceeds of $500,000 through the sale of 4,347,826 common shares in ILC at $0.115 per common share.

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