$华友钴业(SH603799)$ 松下这是明修栈道暗度陈仓啊
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FILE PHOTO: An artisanal miner works at Tilwizembe, a former industrial copper-cobalt mine, outside of Kolwezi, the capital city of Lualaba Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, June 11, 2016.
REUTERS/KENNY KATOMBE/FILE PHOTO
(Reuters) - Panasonic Corp expects to more than triple its cobalt consumption in five years' time, industry sources said, even as the company aims to develop cobalt-free automotive batteries in the near future.

Panasonic is the exclusive battery cell supplier for all new Tesla vehicles, including the mass-market Model 3 electric car. Sources say cobalt-free batteries are many years away.

The scramble to secure supplies of cobalt, which stabilizes and extends the life of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries used to power electric vehicles, has seen prices rise to around $40 a lb from below $10 a lb in December 2015.

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Japanese battery maker Panasonic has been trying to secure supplies in the physical cobalt market, cobalt industry sources said, adding the company expects to use 10,000 tonnes next year and in 2020 and up to 25,000 tonnes per year by the early 2020s.

Its consumption this year will be about 8,000 tonnes, the sources said.

In response to requests for comment, Panasonic said it does not reveal details of its procurement plans.

"That 25,000 tonnes is a much bigger number than anybody expected. I suspect they are very concerned about cobalt supplies in the future," a source at a cobalt producer said.

A cobalt industry source said: "Panasonic are normally very cautious and conservative about their estimates. If anything, they talk it down. The 25,000-tonne number came as a shock to us."

Tesla's target is to produce 5,000 Model 3s a week by the end of June. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk recently told analysts on the company's first-quarter results call: "We think we can get the cobalt to almost nothing."