The largest publicly traded company in the world and the largest producer of the essential cobalt metal used in the production of electric vehicle batteries, the Swiss Commodities Group, has been interested in purchasing a stake from Tesla, but recent negotiations between the two parties have broken down.
According to the Financial Times report, discussions between the two businesses began last year when Tesla was considering the possibility of buying a share of Glenckor that was between 10 and 20 percent of the company. Discussions continued last March when the CEO of the Swiss business, Gary Nigel, paid a visit to the Tesla factory in Vermont, California.
Although some analysts claimed that the negotiations were part of Elon Musk’s strategy to use a shortage of minerals to pressure suppliers to increase production, rather than because he actually wants to invest in mining groups or commercial properties, Tesla stopped the negotiations because it was worried about how large coal mining operations for Jelankor would conflict with the environmental goals of the American company.
Every year, Tesla purchases up to 600 million tonnes of cobalt from Glenckor to use in its many plants across the world to make electric vehicle batteries. Glencor Cobalt also produces cobalt through its mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Australia, and Canada.
Glencor not only provides cobalt to Tesla, but also to many other major automakers around the world, including BMW and Gres Motors, as well as other businesses, including Samsung SDI and SK Innovation, since it recently began trading in lithium, despite the fact that it has not yet been mined.
Elon Musk has stated his desire to have more control over every aspect of making Tesla car batteries, and it was confirmed that Tesla may have started its own lithium and derivatives refining process if prices didn’t decrease.
to get a stake in the major cobalt producing firms following Tesla’s demise
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