China cracks cheap lithium production in electric car breakthrough
- Scientific breakthrough leads to record low costs for essential battery ingredient
- US and Europe seek to break Chinese dominance in global supply chain
The production of lithium – an essential ingredient in batteries for electric cars – has become easier and significantly cheaper, thanks to a technological breakthrough, just as US concerns about China’s dominance in the supply chain are on the rise.
The cost of extracting the mineral has been slashed to a “record low” of 15,000 yuan (US$2,180) per tonne by the new process, a Chinese government report said.
That compares to an international price for lithium ranging from US$12,000 to US$20,000 per tonne – and a long-term contract price of about US$17,000 – over the past year, according to some industrial estimates.
The precise production costs of lithium are a closely guarded business secret, but industry insiders interviewed by the South China Morning Post agreed that the rate quoted in the report could be considered one of, if not the lowest, around.
While China’s lithium output is still relatively low, it dominates supply of the end product, producing nearly two-thirds of the world’s lithium-ion batteries, compared with 5 per cent for the United States, and also controls most of the world’s lithium processing facilities, according to data from Benchmark Minerals Intelligence.
