Automakers face soaring costs without Russian metal supplies — aluminum, palladium, nickel, cobalt, lithium, titanium, platinum, you name it:
egion, Russia. Russia produces 20% of the world's high-grade nickel, used in stainless steel and in EV batteries. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is ramping up the price of metals used in cars, from aluminum in the bodywork to palladium in catalytic converters to the high-grade nickel in electric vehicle batteries, and drivers are likely to foot the bill.
Aluminum and palladium both hit record highs on Monday while nickel, which is also used to make stainless steel, crossed the $100,000-a-ton level for the first time ever on Tuesday. Stellantis chief executive Tavares said an end to the chip shortage could help carmakers offset higher metal and energy prices, but he did not expect any resolution to the semiconductor issues this year.
And when it comes to metals, Russia companies are major suppliers to Germany. In 2020, they accounted for 44% of Germany's nickel imports, 41% of its titanium, a third of its iron, and 18% of its palladium. "Even though aluminum is not on the sanctions list, it is used by Russia to get money into the country and therefore we quit," Chief Executive Thorsten Studemund told Reuters.
"That's the main concern for the battery supply chain in that you've got record high lithium prices, and very, very high cobalt and nickel prices," Rawles said."This is just adding to battery mineral woes."