Australia's Pure Minerals Ltd said on Thursday it signed a non-binding offtake agreement to supply nickel to South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI Co Ltd.
Samsung SDI, which counts Ford Motor Co and BMW as customers, is looking to buy 6,000 tonnes of nickel per year from Pure Minerals' Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub (TECH) in Queensland.
Nickel, a key component in electric car batteries, has seen increasing global demand as companies and countries strive to reduce their carbon footprints.
The offtake agreement between Pure Minerals and Samsung SDI, one of the largest producers of lithium-ion batteries, is for an initial period of three to five years, the Perth-based company said in a statement.
Last month, Pure Minerals signed another non-binding offtake agreement with South Korean battery supplier LG Chem.
(Reporting by Arpit Nayak in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
