Daily Chemical Reactions

Heavy Metal Lover: Lithium Is Light, But It is Weighing Down on Policy and Investment Decisions
April 26, 2023
Commodities Mentioned:
Plastics (PVC, PP, PE, PU, PC, PET, etc.), Clean Energy Minerals, Carbon Dioxide, Hydrogen, Natural Gas/NGLs, Crude/Naphtha
Companies Mentioned:
Albemarle, Livent, Ganfeng Lithium, SQM, Freeport McMoRan, Celanese, BASF, Dow, Huntsman, Ascend, Sumitomo, Covestro, 3M, Masco, Air Products, Drax, Novozymes, Vopak, Zeon, Elementis, Symrise, Meghmani Finechem, Chambal Fertilisers, Nippon Gases, Enel, Trinseo, Sasol, Aekyung, HIF Global, GM, Hyundai, Samsung, Owens Corning, Enphase Energy, Hess

Daily Chemical Reaction

Heavy Metal Lover: Lithium Is Light, But It is Weighing Down on Policy and Investment Decisions

Key Points:

  • The considerable downward pressure on global lithium prices YTD will likely push the C-MACC critical mineral index for April lower MoM, though its other components reflect MoM support.
  • We discuss the IEA electric vehicle outlook report, the EV producer push for market share that is unfavorable for input supplier prices, and the link between critical minerals and battery costs.
  • We discuss a mixture of short- and long-term focused sector updates, ranging from the 2030 outlook from GM to the nearer-term end-market views from Owens Corning, Masco and 3M.
  • An uneven landscape of power incentives is driving investment, favoring some regions, such as the US and Canada, more than others. We also highlight the incentive push in EV markets.
  • We discuss recent movements in Ex-US naphtha compared to USGC ethane and flag EIA views for rising ethane supply in 2023 and 2024, which will benefit domestic ethylene producers.

See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams


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