...China dominates global EV market now, and with EV batteries making up a large portion of EV production costs, why would they want to see higher lithium prices?
....Months ago, in LTR thread and on this thread, I clearly outlined that Lower lithium prices would be a boost to EV growth but lithium hodlers wanted to see that higher EV growth must translate into higher lithium prices. Higher EV growth is made possible with lower lithium prices. Not the other way around. EV growth is made possible with China's vertical integration and Chinese continued R&D to make EV production even cheaper. Economies of scale and increasing pressure on suppliers add to their ability to lower costs and therefore prices to absorb forthcoming tariffs. When Chinese EVs can sell their cars at the same price post-tariff as they do before tariffs, what will Western auto makers do then?
"Chinese companies offer cars with similar quality to their global rivals and at lower cost. Analysts at the bank @UBS calculate that cars made by BYD cost 30% less to assemble than similar cars made by Western companies. Some of the biggest savings for Chinese companies are on batteries. China controls practically the entire supply chain for making electric car batteries."
