The World Could See a Lithium Supply Crunch

Over the next year, lithium could easily run into a massive supply crunch.

Prices could double, if not triple as demand just begins to outweigh supply.  All thanks in part to electric vehicle (EV) sales that are growing much faster than anyone expected.

In fact, according to a new study from the Boston Consulting Group, by 2025, EVs could account for a third of all auto sales.  By 2030, EVs could surpass internal combustion engine vehicles with a market share of 51%.   That could lead to a sizable spike in demand with lithium used in EV batteries.

To give you an idea of how much supply the world may need, consider this.

“The production of minerals such as graphite, lithium and cobalt could increase by nearly 500 percent by 2050” to meet demands for new technologies, including EVs, according to The World Bank, as noted by Forbes.

Granted, with too much supply on hand, lithium prices have been halved.  However, with prices floundering, new lithium projects are either being canceled or delayed.

But it’s a temporary pullback — and we could soon see the beginning of a massive lithium supply crunch,