Lithium Valley (2018)

Lithium Valley Main Report 2018

9

Global Consumption of Lithium from 2008 - 2016

70.0%

160,000

Figure 9: Global Consumption of Lithium from 2008 - 2016

57.7%

140,000

60.0%

54.3%

50.5%

120,000

50.0%

43.6%

100,000

40.0%

35.4%

31.4% 30.1% 31.3%

80,000

30.0%

60,000

19.8%

20.0%

40,000

10.0%

20,000

-

0.0%

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Battery Use

Non-Battery Use

Battery Use as % of Total Consumption

Source: Statista

Global battery production has reached the tipping point where further exponential growth is forecast for lithium and other energy storage related materials. The industry is now benefiting from the economies of scale, the learning curve effect (the more of a product that is manufactured, the cheaper the product becomes), greater resource access and increasing applications of the products (Figure 10). These New Energy industries, as they are collectively referred to in this report, are all growing rapidly.

10

Global annual use of lithium batteries (Devices, Electric Vehicles, Storage)

1000

1250

Figure 10: Falling price and increasing

800

1000

cumulative volume of batteries

600

750

400

500

200

250

0

0

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Battery (GWh)

Battery Projection (GWh)

Price (USD)

Battery Price Projection (USD)

Source: Future Smart Strategies (14 April 2018)

An indicator of these demand drivers is that in 2014 global production of lithium batteries totalled approximately 30GWh. In 2018, there is approximately 350GWh of new lithium battery manufacturing capacity being planned and demand estimates by some industry analysts suggests that this needs to be closer to 500GWh by 2025. 8

8 Ferris, R. (2017), “Electric vehicle demand leads to skyrocketing number of lithium-ion battery factories around the world”, 11 December 2017, CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/11/electric-vehicle-demand-leads-to-jump-in-num- ber-of-lithium-ion-battery-factories.html . (Accessed: 01 May 2018)

Page 36

Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator