Bloomberg: Lithium price slump deepens, down 75 percent so far this year

Lithium prices have continued their nearly month-long decline and are now about 75 percent lower than at the start of this year. Analysts also expect the slump to be far from over, Bloomberg reported today. Lithium is essential for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries.

Lithium carbonate prices in China fell another 2.3 percent today and are down 20 percent so far this month. The last daily increase was recorded on 25 October. Lithium carbonate is the main commodity traded on the global lithium market. In industrial grade, it is the main raw material for batteries used in electrical engineering and the automotive industry. The price of spodumene, a lithium-bearing rock mined in Australia, has fallen by more than half this year.

Czechia is estimated to hold about three percent of the world’s lithium resources – the vast majority at Cínovec, with a small amount in the Slavkov Forest. The deposit near Cínovec is the largest in Europe.

Lithium prices surged in previous years, but this year they have been pushed down by an oversupply. According to a forecast by consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the global lithium market will not return to a deficit before 2028. The outlook for global demand for electric vehicles is uncertain, partly because of higher interest rates, and some automakers are now reassessing their strategies.

„With lithium supply set to grow next year, we will probably see further price declines,“ said Allan Ray Restauro, an analyst at BloombergNEF.

„On the demand side, regional differences in electric vehicle sales are weighing on sentiment across the industry,“ he added.

SQM, the world’s second-largest lithium producer, warned investors last week that the downward price trend could continue for the rest of the year. The biggest miner, Albemarle, said this month that some producers had begun scaling back operations as prices fell to levels at which reinvestment was no longer worthwhile.

Lithium is a very light, soft metal with a silvery sheen. It conducts electricity and heat well. It underpins virtually all battery technologies currently in commercial use or under development.