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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: What Will Define Lithium Leadership? The Novandino Approach to Innovation at Scale
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.
Presentation: Why Some Lithium Assets Never Produce: 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: 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.
Panel: 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.
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.
Presentation: The Cathode Landscape
Fireside Chat: 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.
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.
Keynote: The Global Impact Award
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.
Morning Coffee Break
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.
Keynote: The Lithium Price Cycle
Benchmark Copper Market Update
The role of copper in electrification – supply constraints, demand from EVs, grid infrastructure, and datacentres.
Closing Lunch
Upcoming Events
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Closing the Gap: Europe's EV and Battery Production Disconnect
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Lithium's Next Demand Wave: BESS, Datacentres and the Supply Challenge
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Benchmark Summit 2027 Houston
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Benchmark Summit 2027 Cape Town
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