Commodities
Home›Commodities›Energy Transition›Pentagon cancels $300 million lithium carbonate tender…
Pentagon cancels $300 million lithium carbonate tender for strategic stockpile
The Defense Logistics Agency canceled the solicitation effective August 3, 2026, after bid deadlines were extended twice, from July 17 to July 30 and then to August 5.
The U.S. Department of Defense has canceled a tender to buy up to $300 million worth of lithium carbonate for the national strategic stockpile, dealing another setback to efforts to secure critical minerals for defense and other strategic industries, OilPrice reports.
The Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency, which manages the defense supply chain from raw materials to end-user disposition, canceled the solicitation in its entirety effective August 3, 2026. The notice offered nearly 36 million pounds, about 16,000 tons, of battery-grade lithium carbonate over the next five years, and the tender was expected to be worth up to $300 million, but the agency did not explain why it was canceled.
Bidding timelines shifted as the Defense Logistics Agency extended the deadline twice, first from July 17 to July 30 and then from July 30 to August 5. OilPrice notes the cancellation comes after a similar disruption last year, when the Defense Logistics Agency canceled a cobalt tender expected to be worth about $500 million.
OilPrice frames the failed lithium tender as a sign the administration may be struggling to procure critical minerals for the National Defense Stockpile at fixed prices across multi year supply arrangements. The article adds that lithium carbonate prices are up about 20% year to date, while futures in China dipped in July to their lowest level in the period discussed in the report.