In October 2025’s Recharge podcast, co-presenters Matt Fernley (Battery Materials Review) and Cormac O’Laoire (Electrios Energy) unpack takeaways from LME Week and what they mean for the battery value chain, including:
The split views on lithium—bulls vs bears—and why inventories over the next 2–3 months will be decisiveEV demand dynamics: China’s scrappage scheme effects, BEV vs PHEV trends, and the surge in ROW sales driven by Chinese exports (BYD, new EU/LatAm plants)China’s new export controls on advanced LFP and graphite, the West’s exposure to Chinese anode supply, and the case for building an independent NMC-led supply chain in Europe/USThe funding gap for battery raw materials projects and whether price floors/industrial policy can unlock capitalNMC vs LFP in Western markets and the rise of mixed-chemistry packsSodium-ion reality check—costs, performance, and supply-chain hurdles (hard carbon) vs LFPExxonMobil’s push into synthetic graphite via Superior Graphite and the potential to scale non-Chinese anode supplyESS going “gangbusters”: China’s ~180+ GWh target, Middle East mega-projects, and implications for global cell availability and integrator business models