Stellantis, CTR sign 10-year lithium hydroxide supply agreement

Global carmaker Stellantis has signed an offtake agreement with Controlled Thermal Resources for the supply of battery-grade lithium hydroxide for use in electric vehicle production, the companies said June 2 in a joint statement.

Under terms of the 10-year agreement, CTR will supply Stellantis with up to 25,000 mt/year of lithium hydroxide.

No pricing information regarding the contract was supplied.

Increased demand for EVs has driven up battery metal prices, with Platts seaborne lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide assessments surging 122% and 140%, respectively, since the start of 2022 to $75,000/mt CIF North Asia and $76,000/mt CIF North Asia as of June 2, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed.

The agreement sets a new sustainability benchmark for the US battery supply chain, the companies said, as CTR's Hell's Kitchen project in California will recover lithium from geothermal brines using renewable energy and steam to produce battery-grade lithium products in an integrated, closed-loop process, eliminating the need for evaporation brine ponds, open-pit mines, and fossil-fuel processing.

Having a sustainable supply of lithium hydroxide supports Stellantis' US plans to have more than 25 all-new battery electric vehicle launches and 50% BEV sales by 2030, it said.

"In the fight against global warming, bolstering our battery electric vehicle supply chain to support our bold electrification ambitions is absolutely critical," Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said in a statement.

Stellantis struck a similar five-year agreement with Vulcan Energy in November 2021, with Vulcan to supply 81,000-99,000 mt of lithium hydroxide to support its EV manufacturing in Europe.

Globally, Stellantis has said it aims to have annual BEV sales of 5 million vehicles by 2030, reaching 100% of passenger car sales in Europe and 50% of passenger car and light-duty truck sales in North America. To achieve this, the company is planning a battery capacity of 400 GWh to be supported by five battery manufacturing plants in Europe and North America and additional supply contracts.