The lithium industry needs US$116 billion of investment to achieve the 5.7x ramp-up in production needed for 2030 decarbonisation goals, and prices may remain ‘tight’ in the coming years.
That investment figure is in a ‘high case scenario’ in analysis by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, which is based on EV production and penetration rates hitting the 2030 targets set by policymakers around the globe.
The analysis encompasses data from Rho Motion and the International Energy Agency (IEA) and shows that the industry would need to get to 5.3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), 5.7 times higher than the 915,000 tonnes LCE production in operation today.
Benchmark analyst, Cameron Perks, said: “It’s almost impossible, and definitely a race against time. The big money that needs to be spent takes time to get approval for and to deploy. The players with skin in the game are the least likely to rush their spending. They don’t want to flood the market with lithium too quickly. They want to release it slowly to maximise their return.”
For the rest of this article: https://www.energy-storage.news/lithium-industry-needs-us116-billion-to-achieve-5-7x-ramp-up-for-2030-goals/