article thumbnail

The reality of green energy: “green metal” supply chains won’t be able to keep up

NC State SCRC

of the lithium reserves and a quarter of its copper deposit, much in the Atacama desert – see picture of the flats above); Third, the Congo which has 46% of global cobalt reserves and produces 70% of the world’s output. You guessed it – China – which has nabbed the biggest commercial deposits of cobalt in the Congo.

article thumbnail

How AI is forecasting price fluctuations for raw materials and rare earth commodities

Resilinc

Resilinc’s CommodityWatch AI can’t solve the long-term geopolitical challenges surrounding cobalt and other critical commodities, but the AI-powered tool is already empowering supply chain and sourcing teams to monitor and forecast supply and pricing trends and use that intelligence for strategic advantages. And prices did indeed retreat.”.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Shining a Light on the EV Supply Chain: A Poor Environmental and Human Rights Record

NC State SCRC

S&P Global Mobility forecasts electric vehicle sales in the United States could reach 40 percent of total passenger car sales by 2030 , and more optimistic projections foresee electric vehicle sales surpassing 50 percent by 2030. Congo is an autocracy, which means that the government controls most of the industry.

Congo 75
article thumbnail

Copper in flux

Resilinc

Less than four months ago, copper was setting record prices and experts were forecasting long-term supply gaps due to a collision between the growing demand for copper in clean-power technologies and the cost and difficulties of developing new mines. It’s just an impossibly tight future.”.

article thumbnail

Ethical sourcing risks pose challenge to electric vehicle market

Resilinc

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which supplies most of China’s and the world’s cobalt raw materials, is also the focus of intense scrutiny over child labor in cobalt mining, according to the Wilson Center.

article thumbnail

Demand for low-carbon metals heats up

Resilinc

This is due to their importance for manufacturing advanced batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines and other green technology, and because of the extent to which China, Russia, and countries with poor ESG regulations—like the Democratic Republic of Congo, the largest source of cobalt—dominate mining and production of these materials.

article thumbnail

The (Potential) Value of Labeling in the Lithium Ion Battery Supply Chain

The UCLA Anderson Global Supply Chain Blog

For example, over 60% of cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which uses the labor of tens of thousands of children as young as four years old in its mines. [4]. Material composition estimates: estimates based on 2025 share of market for each battery chemistry based on McKinsey forecasts. 26, 2018, [link]. [4]