Despite expectations that lithium demand will increase from approximately 500,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in 2021 to about three million to four million metric tons in 2030, McKinsey believes the lithium industry will be able to provide enough products to meet the growing demand for lithium-ion battery industry. In addition to increasing the supply of conventional lithium, which is expected to expand by more than 300% between 2021 and 2030, direct lithium extraction (DLE) and direct-to-product lithium (DLP) could be the driving forces behind the capacity of the sector to respond more quickly to the increase and needed. Currently, almost all lithium mining takes place in Australia, Latin America and China (representing 98% of combined production in 2020). A pipeline of announced projects indicates new players and geographies on the lithium mining map, including Western and Eastern Europe, and Russia among others. Click on the image to learn more.
