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Here’s why the Pilbara (ASXLS) share price is on watch

How important was Jadar for the lithium market?

Jadar was expected to be a big project. Rio Tinto recently committed $2.4 billion to the lithium-borates project. It said it was one of the world’s largest greenfield lithium projects. It was expected to be one of the largest industrial investments in Serbia, contributing 1% directly and 4% indirectly to GDP.

Rio Tinto said it could supply enough lithium to power over one million electric vehicles per year. Full production was expected to be around 58,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate per year.

As Rio Tinto points out, lithium demand is expected to grow by between 25% to 35% per annum over the next decade.

If the Jadar project does not go ahead, then all of that lithium supply will not happen. There would be less total global supply, which may assist Pilbara.

Analyst rating on the Pilbara share price

Despite going up by around 200% over the past year, Pilbara is still rated as a buy by Macquarie with a price target of $3.70. The thought is that demand for electric vehicles can continue to keep the lithium price high.

Here's why the Pilbara (ASXLS) share price is on watch (********.au)