Column: Battery metals recovery runs into stop-start EV market
Market Trends · Mining.com ·
Prices of lithium, cobalt and nickel have all recovered from their 2024-2025 lows, helped by supply restraint including Congo's cobalt export quotas and Indonesia's nickel controls. But the recovery now faces headwinds from a stop-start EV market, with global sales growth of just 0.9% in January-May 2026, a 25% drop in North America and a 15% contraction in China.