An unexpected decline in the price of an essential battery material, along with those of other commodities, is good news for buyers. But experts disagree on how long low prices will last.
Many companies and investors are eager to recycle batteries but it could take a decade or more before enough used lithium-ion batteries become available.
The project also illustrates how difficult it is to get lithium out of the ground and break China’s dominance in processing the metal and turning it into batteries.