Not Gunna Be Enough Lithium, page-196

More fuel for the fire


Data from Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast shows a projected annual lithium supply deficit of up to 225,000 tonnes in North America and 500,000 tonnes in Europe by 2030.They are insane numbers.Especially as bullish price sentiment within the lithium market continued to develop in August, driven by Chinese downstream companies “who were willing to pay higher prices for what little feedstock was available”, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence says.But this is just the beginning. Over the longer term, this lack of raw material supply could completely derail Europe’s and North America’s electrification plans.“In general, there is a lack of understanding of just how much lithium is required to fuel electric vehicle demand going forward,” Benchmark senior analyst Cameron Perks says.To incentivise the right amount of investment in new mines there is going to have to be a sustained period of higher prices, he says.“There also has to be some level of education for decision makers on the severity of the shortfall and how much money and time it realistically takes to get a mine into operation and ramped up.”