World Largest Lithium Producers sees Higher Prices – Demand will outpace Supply

Despite plans for increase in output, the world’s largest producer of battery metal, Albemarle, said today that lithium prices may possibly stay high for years.

The market was 300,000 tonnes in 2019 and didn’t rise very much. There may have been 30,000–50,000 tonnes of growth in a year.

“Today, the market increases 200,000 tonnes a year, virtually the whole scale of what the market was before then.

The expected demand for lithium, which is essential for EV batteries, would not be satisfy even with such growth rates.

But also many other metals rise, EV prices rise as well, making them less appealing to purchasers.

Lithium prices will decline to $11,000 per tonne by 2024 due to China’s overproduction of EVs and the started opening of new mines.