What Other Commodity Is Tesla Disrupting

Tesla Motors Inc TSLA's status as a "disruptor" to the auto industry is a well understood story. However, the company's status as a "disruptor" to the metals industry is little understand and has perhaps been under-reported - until now. According to The The Wall Street Journal, it is merely a matter of time before Tesla reshapes the metals industry. the company has already communicated its 2018 objectives of manufacturing 500,000 vehicles which is 2 years ahead of its prior guidance. Accordingly, the market for lithium, a key component needed for the lithium ion battery that powers a Tesla vehicle, has received attention from mining companies, investors and the general public as the average price of lithium rose 47 percent int he first quarter of 2016. This may prove to be a problem for Tesla, particularly after its CEO Elon Musk said, "In order to produce half a million cars a year... we would basically need to absorb the entire world's lithium ion production." The Wall Street Journal added that aluminum and copper will also be in high demand. However, Tesla's relative size isn't causing analysts to sound the alarms, at least not yet. "This will certainly be a positive, but the broader macro trends like housing [and] general manufacturing, for the next half-decade, are going to be much, much bigger drivers of demand for these metals like zinc and copper," Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities in Toronto told TheWall Street Journal. The analyst also summed up a main concern for Tesla investors. "We are headed in the direction where these vehicles are becoming affordable for the mass market,"he also said. "The technology is at a point in time where we could envision this as an ever-increasing factor."