EXCLUSIVE: Ford Says Hedged Against Nickel Supplies For 'Next Few Years' To Support 'Ambitious EV Goals'

Ford Motor Co F told Benzinga on Thursday it is hedged against rocketing nickel prices for a few years, helped by supply contracts for the key material used in making electric vehicle batteries.

What Happened: Nickel prices touched record highs on Tuesday as contracts breached the $100,000 per ton mark for the first time amid a supply squeeze caused by the Russia-Ukraine war that forced trading for the prized battery material to be suspended at the London Metal Exchange until Friday.

“We have supplies of nickel contracted through the next few years to support our ambitious EV goals,” Ford spokesman T.R. Reid told Benzinga in an emailed statement.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford said it will provide an update on the status of — and its expectations on —  the overall supply chain on April 27 at its first-quarter earnings announcement.

Russia reportedly accounts for about 6% of global nickel supplies and delivers about 20% of the world's high-grade nickel.

Ford’s EV Lineup: The legacy automaker currently makes and sells the Mustang Mach-E electric sports utility vehicle and the electric cargo van E-Transit. The automaker is also closer to beginning delivery for its hotly-anticipated F-150 Lightning in spring this year.

Ford started selling the Mach-E in December 2020. At the time, the automaker sold just three units of the Mach-E. In 2021, the automaker produced 63,683 Mach-Es. It has since ramped up production from a single factory in Mexico that caters to the U.S. and European market and began local manufacturing in China as well.

See Also: Tesla Rushes To Hike Prices Of Some Model 3, Model Y Cars In US Amid Surging Nickel Prices

Ford CEO Jim Farley had last year said the automaker plans to increase its production capacity of electric vehicles to 600,000 units globally by 2023 as it looks to become the second-largest U.S.-based EV maker behind Tesla Inc TSLA.

Price Hikes: Tesla on Thursday hiked prices of some of its best-selling model variants in the range of $1,000 to about $1,600 in two of its key markets, the U.S. and China. The Elon Musk-led company did not say if the first price hikes taken this year were related to nickel and lithium price surges.

Volkswagen Group VWAGY-owned Porsche paused production of electric Taycan at its Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen plant in Germany due to supply chain issues following the Russia-Ukraine war. The company said it has “adjusted prices slightly” due to the exceptional rise in raw material prices.

The Taycan comes in three options (Sedan, Sports Turismo, and Cross Turismo), priced at $82,700 onwards.

Price Action: Ford stock closed 0.24% lower at $16.3 a share on Thursday.

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