Lithium Prices Race Higher With Demand

Electric vehicles are fueling the lithium boom.

According to Barron’s, “The global lithium industry produces less than 600,000 metric tons a year today. Demand is expected to hit 1.5 million tons by 2025. Even with new lithium mining projects, increased supplies of the commodity don’t seem likely to be an issue, as long as people keep buying EVs.”

It’s a big part of why lithium companies are seeing investor demand. Albemarle Corporation, for example was recently upgraded by Loop Capital analyst Christopher Kapsch to a buy from a hold with a price target of $187 from $160, according to Barron’s.  “Reflecting several bigger picture developments….we have become incrementally more positive on the lithium space, and [Albemarle] more specifically,” he noted.

At Lithium Americas, the company continues to evaluate partnership and financing opportunities for its Thacker Pass lithium project, including the possibility of a joint venture partner. American Lithium Corp. just selected by the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office, with co-recipient American Battery Technology Company and another industry partner, to receive grant funding totaling 50% of the capital cost for a US$4.5 million lithium extraction/hydroxide pilot plant.

At Piedmont Lithium, President and CEO, Keith D. Phillips recently noted, “It is an exciting time for the battery materials industry in North America. Our North Carolina location places us in an ideal position to play a pivotal role in helping power North America’s electric vehicle and clean energy storage revolutions.”