Australia, Chile and China are the top three for lithium production by country, and Brazil and Zimbabwe rose significantly in the ranks. As the EV lithium-ion battery market continues to grow, it’s likely these countries will vie for larger roles in supplying the metal in the years to come.
Worldwide production of batteries with LFP cathodes takes place mainly in China, where it accounts for just over a third of total battery production. In contrast, the production of battery cells with NMC cathodes accounts for slightly more than a quarter in China.
By the middle of the following decade the lithium-ion battery became the go-to solution for powering electronics, and demand for the element soared. Lithium is now the main component in batteries that power not just consumer electronics but also an increasing number of electric cars and stationary energy storage systems.
LFP cell production in the U.S. turns out to be relatively small and thus also accounts for only a small share of global production. In Europe, the production of NMC battery cells will clearly predominate in 2030. In the course of the coming decade, European NMC battery cell production will therefore also account for an increasingly relevant share.
China once again surged ahead in 2020 by building even more lithium-ion battery megafactories and increasing future capacity. Of the total capacity of all of the lithium-ion battery plants either active or under construction, China accounts for 66.9 per cent, while the US is only forecasted to account for 11.9 per cent.
If the announcements in Europe are actually implemented at the targeted rate, NMC battery cell production in Europe would even be larger than in China by 2030. The data used in this article comes from the BEMA2020 research project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant number 03XP0272B).