Fastmarkets CEO Raju Daswani and Fastmarkets Fast Forward host Andrea Hotter join Howard Klein and Matt Fernley ahead of the Fastmarkets&#x27; 2026 Global Lithium, Battery and Critical Minerals Conference in Las Vegas. Topics discussed include the lithium market reset, rising ESS demand, BYD’s global growth, Rio Tinto’s lithium strategy, critical minerals financing, Pentagon supply chain priorities, and why strategic materials are no longer a niche topic. Register for Fastmarkets Conference (Use code &#x27;SPEAKER25&#x27; for 25% off): https://globalevents.fastmarkets.com/lithium-supply-and-battery-raw-materials-conference Listen to Fastmarkets&#x27; Fast Forward Podcast: https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/fast-forward-podcast/ Follow Fastmarkets: LinkedIn (Raju Daswani): https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajudaswani/ LinkedIN (Andrea Hotter): https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-hotter-ah1/ X/Twitter: https://x.com/FastmarketsMM ___ Chapters (00:00) Conference Preview (03:10) Market Mood (05:52) Strategic Materials Shift (08:28) Speaker Highlights (10:47) Networking And Investors (13:43) Fast Forward Podcast (17:21) BYD’s Global Growth (20:41) Mining Finance Gap (27:34) Pentagon Supply Chains (35:23) Europe’s Minerals Response (37:08) Rio’s Lithium Strategy (42:58) ESS Growth (45:42) Final Details Links Sign up for the Lithium-Ion Bull newsletter / Matt’s blogs: https://rkequity.com/ Questions: rockstockchannel@rkequity.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rockstockchannel Podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lithium-ion-rocks/id1457969172 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0KiMIZOPaDg8ENfPJMSINq Follow us on X (Twitter): Howard: https://x.com/LithiumIonBull Matt: https://x.com/matt_fernley Rodney: https://x.com/RodneyHooper13 _________________________________________________ DISCLAIMER NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. Howard, Matt, and Rodney are not financial advisors or broker-dealers. This video is provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment or financial advice. Please conduct your own independent research and read the disclaimer at the end of the video or on RK Equity’s website: https://www.rkequity.com Intro and outro audio credit: Jamie Klein

Fastmarkets 2026: AI, Defense And The Lithium Recovery

Rock Stock Channel

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Rock Stock Channel

## Transcript

[SPEAKER_A] The whole tone has really shifted quite materially and quite incredibly too.

[SPEAKER_B] The question is more who can deliver reliable, scalable, and economic supply.

[SPEAKER_C] Welcome back to Rock Stock Channel. It is Monday, June 1st, and today we're delighted to have back on the channel two familiar faces from Fastmarkets. Ahead of what has become the most important lithium and battery materials conference and now critical minerals conference in the world, Fastmarkets' Global Lithium, Battery and Critical Minerals 2026, taking place June 22nd to the 25th in Las Vegas. Joining us are Raju Daswani, the CEO of Fastmarkets, and Andrea Hotter, host of the Fast Fastmarkets Fast Forward podcast and who will be moderator of one of the conference's marquee sessions, a fireside chat with Rio Tinto's Jerome Pecresse. What's particularly interesting this year is that the conference continues to evolve beyond traditional discussions of lithium pricing and EV demand into much broader conversations about energy storage, AI-driven electricity demand, defense and aerospace supply chains, industrial policy, geopolitics, and strategic material security. Matt Fernley and I are honored to be participating again as speakers and strategic advisors to the event, and we're looking forward to giving our audience a preview of what they can expect in Las Vegas. Before we begin, if you're planning to attend the conference, and I would encourage you all to do so, Fastmarkets has kindly provided our audience with a 25% discount code. Simply use the code SPEAKER25 when registering. We'll also include that information in the description below. I'd also like to thank our new sponsor Clean Elements, an investor group focused on providing growth capital for critical minerals developers supporting the energy transition. Clean Elements has invested more than $30 million to date and is currently the largest shareholder of both Galan Lithium and NOA Lithium Brines, two companies developing high-grade lithium brine projects in Argentina, and both of whom will be at the Fastmarkets Las Vegas event. So look out for them there. And a reminder that we may discuss individual public equities during this video, but we are not financial advisors. This video is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Please do your own research and read the disclaimer at the end of this video. The only advice you'll hear from me is that you'll get immense value from the Fastmarkets Conference. So please feel free to register and attend. And with that, Raju, Andrea, Matt's going to lead a bit with the questions. Why don't we start with you first, Raju?

[SPEAKER_D] Okay. Welcome, welcome, guys, to the podcast. Welcome back. Raju, as Howard said, starting with you, you've been around through multiple commodity cycles. Last year we were arguably at the bottom of the lithium bear market. This...

Fastmarkets 2026: AI, Defense And The Lithium Recovery

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.

Fastmarkets 2026: AI, Defense And The Lithium Recovery

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.