To date, zinc, a $40-billion-per-year market, according to the International Zinc Association (IZA), is a long shot at best when it comes to the metal’s potential to wrestle market share from the established materials mix for EV batteries.
Click on any of the metal symbols to discover what the LME provides for the EV and battery industries
The LME has been working with the global aluminium industry for over 40 years, offering the entire value chain the opportunity to hedge their price risk with contracts for primary aluminium, aluminium alloys, regional premiums, alumina and used beverage cans.
Aluminium and its alloys play a central role in vehicle manufacturing. It is already used in the production of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and demand is set to increase as EV adoption grows. The average amount of aluminium used in electric vehicles can be up to 30% higher than in ICE vehicles because it is lighter than alternative materials such as steel. Reducing the weight of an electric vehicle is crucial for increasing its range – for every 100kg of weight saved, mileage can increase by around 10% and battery costs may reduce by 20%.
Aluminium is often the material of choice for the chassis, bodywork, structural components, like shock towers, internal panels, and housing for motors and batteries.
Wider adoption of EVs combined with the importance of aluminium for “light-weighting” could see the demand for aluminium increase by a third by 2040*.
With our growing contract suite supporting all stages of the aluminium industry, the LME provides stakeholders throughout the EV value chain with the tools to hedge and trade their aluminium price risk.
Find out more at about the LME’s aluminium suite at lme.com/aluminium
*Source: “The energy transition will be built with metals.” October 2020