Tesla considering lithium refinery in Texas, seeks tax reduction

Sept 9 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) is contemplating environment up a lithium refinery on the gulf coast of Texas, as it looks to secure source of the essential element applied in batteries amid surging demand for electrical autos.

The possible battery-quality lithium hydroxide refining facility, which Tesla touted as the to start with of its sort in North America, will system “uncooked ore content into a usable condition for battery production”, the company reported in an software filed with the Texas Comptroller’s Workplace.

A final decision to spend in Texas will also be dependent on the skill to obtain reduction on regional home taxes, Tesla claimed.

Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has previously explained that Tesla may possibly have to enter the mining and refining market specifically at scale as lithium selling prices surge.

Musk has also been vocal about the will need for a lot more gamers in the lithium refining business. “You are not able to drop. It is accredited to print money,” he experienced said at the firm’s 2nd-quarter earnings call.

Securing a continuous offer of battery elements is seen vital for Tesla as it faces intense competitors in the rapid-expanding industry for electrical autos.

If accredited, design could start off in the fourth quarter of 2022 and would access business production by the close of 2024, Tesla stated in the application dated Aug. 22.

Under the system, Tesla will ship the ultimate product from the refinery by vans and rail to various Tesla battery producing websites supporting the offer chain for big-scale and electrical automobile batteries.

Tesla, whose shares rose 1.4% in premarket investing, also stated it would use less harmful reagents and make usable byproducts, when compared with the common system.

LITHIUM SCRAMBLE

Lithium price ranges have skyrocketed this calendar year due to surging demand from the auto sector. China remains the world’s greatest lithium processor, even though proposed rival jobs in the United States and European Union have faced a variety of setbacks. examine additional

If Tesla’s system goes forward, the carmaker could come to be the very first in the sector to invest instantly in lithium refining as automakers scramble to stitch up deals with miners and refiners.

“Vehicle-makers are striving to ensure they have command in excess of the provide of lithium, hedging for any geopolitical predicament that could possibly occur in long run exactly where the source is disrupted,” reported Arpit Agarwal, director at undertaking cash organization Blume Ventures, which has backed EV startups this kind of as Euler Motors and Yulu.

Tesla also stands to attain from reduce logistics costs as nicely as incentives it may get from the U.S. authorities, he additional.

Battery makers are also looking to improve production in the United States, wherever a change toward EVs could improve as the country implements stricter regulation and tightens tax credit history eligibility.

Tesla by itself signed a 5-year supply deal with Australia’s Liontown Resources (LTR.AX) earlier this yr, when rival EV makers Stellantis (STLA.MI) and Byd have invested in miners about the globe.

CATL, the world’s most significant battery maker, has also taken stakes in lithium miners.

Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat, Maria Ponnezhath and Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru Enhancing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Anil D’Silva

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