Webinar: Global Lithium Market - Statistics, Trends, and Outlook

Hey everybody!

We are hosting a 40-minute live webinar on the lithium market.

Join us to get the main macroeconomic statistics around production and trade, and talk over the challenges and the nearest future of the market.

We invite speakers from the industry to share their thoughts on how they are going through this difficult time.

Listen to stories from entrepreneurs from around the world and share yours!

Key Trends and Insights

The second half of 2020 saw an increase in lithium demand, following the growth of the lithium-ion battery market. This sector accounts for 71% of global lithium consumption. After a fall during the pandemic, the market is forecast to expand to 200K tons by 2030 owing to quickly developing electric vehicle and electronic device industries, particularly in China (IndexBox estimates).

Amid the global course towards a circular economy, the number of planned lithium-ion reprocessing facilities is increasing worldwide. Lithium-ion batteries can be recycled, which is now especially important against increasingly stringent environmental standards.

Despite the Covid crisis, technological and geological exploration companies secured diverse and reliable supplies of lithium for battery manufacturers, by establishing vertically integrated strategic partnerships and coordinating teamwork.

Overproduction and dwindling demand during the pandemic resulted in a fall in prices on the lithium market. In 2020, spot prices in China fell from the beginning of the year through to November: prices for lithium carbonate fell from $7.1K per ton to $6.2K per ton, from $7.8K per ton to $7Кper ton for lithium hydroxide and from $83Кper ton to $71K per ton for metallic lithium. In the USA, the average annual price of lithium carbonate stood at $8К per ton in 2020, a drop of 37% against 2019 prices.

The development of the electric vehicle industry, particularly in China, and electronic devices should generate further lithium market growth. Despite competition from lithium substitute products (calcium can be used in batteries as an alternative to lithium), the lithium market is set to expand rapidly over the next decade.

Current lithium reserves exceed 21М tons, and continuing geological exploration worldwide implies that the number of lithium deposits detected should increase. Thus, no potential lithium shortages are expected in the next decade. The largest lithium reserves are located in Chile (9.2M tons), Australia (4.7M tons), Argentina (1.9M tons) and China (1.5M tons).