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Musk's talk with Glencore.

 


Tesla held talks with Glencore about taking a stake in the Swiss commodities group, showing how global carmakers are seeking to build ties with the mining industry to secure materials needed for the rollout of electric vehicles. They continued in March this year when Glencore chief executive Gary Nagle visited Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California, as part of a roadshow for the mining company’s annual results. Tesla had concerns over whether Glen-core’s extensive coal mining business was compatible with the carmaker’s environmental goals and was reluctant to take a minority equity stake. However, two years ago, Tesla secured a cobalt offtake agreement with the Swiss group to supply its factories in Shanghai and Berlin.

Musk has previously outlined Tesla’s intention to take greater control of all manufacturing steps of its batteries, including processing the raw materials and even buying lithium deposits still in the ground if the supply chain fails to deliver. In April, the billionaire took to Twitter, the social media site he purchased last week, to voice his concerns about lithium, the price of which has risen eightfold since the start of 2021, saying, «Tesla might have to get into the mining & refining directly at scale unless costs improve». Tesla is also advancing with plans to build its lithium hydroxide refinery on the Texas Gulf Coast. As well as its cobalt offtake agreement with Glencore, Tesla has struck a long-term deal for nickel supply from Brazilian mining group Vale.

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