Robot Vacuum Cleaner Raw Materials Rise

As Covid-19 lingers, The industrial production level has difficult to bring production back to per-pandemic levels. Now, with tensions between Russia and Ukraine, raw materials, which have been running high for two years, are climbing even higher.

As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalates, the global chip shortage could be exacerbated by disruptions to the international supply of neon, an inert neon gas used in the production of the chips for the robot vacuum cleaners, as well as palladium, a key raw material.

Data show that Ukraine supplies nearly 70% of the world's high-purity neon gas. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and political tensions in Ukraine, the price of neon, a noble gas needed for chip manufacturer, increased sixfold in the first quarter of 2022.

Palladium is also a key raw material for chips, and Russia is the world's largest producer of the metal palladium, accounting for about 40% of global output. The supply of Palladium could be affected by trade sanctions imposed by Western governments.

The price of lithium-ion batteries for robot vacuum cleaners is also rising. According to Bloomberg NEF, due to the large increase in the demand for downstream power batteries, the lithium supply exceeds the supply in the market. The lithium prices continue to rise, and the lithium-ion battery factories are running at full capacity.

According to S&P GLOBAL Market Intelligence, supply is forecast to jump to 636,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent in 2022, and up from an estimated 97,000 in 2021 — but demand will jump even higher to 641,000 tonnes, from an estimated 504,000.