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Benchmark Week 2026
Benchmark Week 2026
Time and Location
Lead Sponsors
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Our agenda features a host of battery supply chain experts who will share in-depth analysis of critical mineral markets through to downstream demand drivers, including EVs and ESS.
Monday 9th November, 2026
Networking Drinks Reception
Tuesday 10th November, 2026
Registration & Breakfast
Benchmark Opening Keynote: Building a Global Battery Economy
Fireside Chat: The Lifetime Achievement Award
Robin Zeng, Founder, Chairman & CEO of CATL will receive the pristegious Benchmark lifetime achievement award, presented to him by former winner and former CTO at CATL, Bob Galyen, followed by a fireside chat
Keynote: The Global Impact Award
Morning Coffee Break
Benchmark Lithium Market Update
A Benchmark analyst will walk us through pricing trends, supply-demand balances and capacity forecasts for the global lithium market through 2030.
Keynote: The Global Lithium Market
Presentation: Sixteen Lithium Mine Deals - Six producers: What it takes to bring South American brine to production
Panel: The Lithium Supply Challenge: Can Production Keep Pace with Demand?
Gathering leading lithium producers on capacity build-out, conversion economics, and the outlook for battery-grade carbonate and hydroxide.
Benchmark Cobalt & Nickel Market Update
A combined look at the cobalt and nickel markets – how Class 1 nickel supply, Indonesian HPAL expansion, and DRC cobalt dynamics are reshaping the landscape.
Keynote: The Evolving Cobalt & Nickel Supply Chain - Navigating Surplus, Quotas & New Chemistries
How are producers and consumers adapting to shifting nickel supply from Indonesia, cobalt export quotas, and the rise of LFP? And what does this mean for investment?
Keynote: Indonesia’s Nickel Ambitions: Policy, Production & Downstream Integration
A keynote from Indonesia’s Mining Ministry on the country’s strategy to move beyond raw material exports and become a fully integrated battery materials hub.
Presentation: Nickel - Strengthening Global Partnerships
International collaboration is critical to building resilient, responsible and competitive nickel and cobalt supply chains. This panel will explore market trends, investment opportunities and cross-border partnerships.
Networking Lunch & Power Players Live
Whilst lunch is being served, we will be conducting live on-stage interviews in the catering & networking zone with guest speakers & senior Benchmark analysts, so get some food & take a seat to watch Power Players Live
Benchmark Graphite & Anode Market Update
Natural vs. synthetic graphite dynamics, anode capacity expansion, and the build out of global anode supply chains.
Keynote: Anode Material Innovation for Diverse Applications
Panel: Graphite & Anode Supply, Processing and Market Dynamics
Where anode technology is heading — silicon-carbon composites, hard carbon, lithium-metal and other next-generation chemistries — and what commercialisation timelines mean for upstream raw-material demand.
Presentation: Silicon-based Anode Material Development and Applications
Keynote: A Major Producer’s Perspective - Global Lithium Industry Development and Outlook
The presentation will primarily cover Zijin's perspective on industry development trends, as well as our layout and empowerment initiatives in the lithium sector.
Keynote: Defining the African Lithium Frontier: A Capital-Efficient Path to Tier-One Assets
Keynote: Navigating Supply & Cost Dynamics in Next-Generation Electrolytes and Fluorine Materials
The industry is demanding higher-purity for fast-charging and high-nickel chemistry. This session explores market dynamics and cost pressures across key battery electrolyte salts. Global chemical leader Do Fluoride discusses capacity outlooks, upstream fluorine security, and scaling next-gen materials for fast-charging energy storage applications.
Afternoon Coffee Break
Benchmark Cathode Market Update
On tracking cathode and precursor capacity build-out across Korea, Morocco, Indonesia and Europe, regional sourcing-driven arbitrage in pricing and which producers are winning the race to expand global.
Panel: The Cathode Landscape - Chemistry Wars, Capacity Races & Regional Strategies
A leading global cathode producer on the state of the cathode market, the competitive dynamics between LFP and high-nickel, capacity build-out across China and overseas, and how tier-one producers are positioning for the next phase of demand growth.
Cross Border Capital: Global Financial Coalitions in Critical Minerals
International investors, miners, processors, and financial institutions discuss cross-border capital allocation. What it takes to build global financial alliances, structure multilateral off-take agreements, and navigate international ESG standards to secure critical mineral and new energy supply chains.
Networking Drinks
Wednesday 11th November, 2026
Registration & Breakfast
Benchmark Opening Keynote: ESS & EV Demand
Tracking the demand signals – global EV sales trajectories, energy storage deployment, and what they mean for raw material consumption.
China-Europe Case Study Session: Charging the Change
This session profiles Swaptopus, a JV combining CATL’s battery-swapping technology with UK-based Octopus Energy’s expertise in energy, software and grid flexibility, bringing a proven Chinese battery-swapping infrastructure model for electric HGVs to Europe.
Panel: Energy Storage, Grid-Scale Batteries & the Next Demand Frontier
How the ESS market is scaling, which chemistries are winning, and the infrastructure investment needed to support the grid of the future.
Morning Coffee Break
Keynote: The Lithium Price Cycle
Keynote: China's Position in the Global Copper Industry
On China's role as both producer and consumer, international partnerships and supply chains and future trends in global trade
Benchmark Copper Market Update
The role of copper in electrification – supply constraints, demand from EVs, grid infrastructure, and datacentres.
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