WEMO24-Compiled Report-Interactive compressed (002) 4154-7882-8116 v.1 - Flipbook - Page 44
Global
Outlook
Mid-2024, the French Company, Eramet inaugurated its
plant in Argentina where it invested $870 million180. The
objective is to produce 24 000 tons of Lithium Carbonate
Equivalent (LCE) in 2025 (around 2% of 2024 demand)
increasing to 80 000 tons in the future.
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Chile has the world's largest lithium reserves and is the
second largest producer after Australia. The Chilean
government's plan, adopted in 2024, should increase
lithium production by 70% by 2030. At the beginning of
June 2024, Chile's Codelco and SQM181 signed an agreement
to join forces to exploit the lithium in the Atacama Desert
in the North of the country. The aim is to achieve a total
additional production of 300 000 tons of LCE in 2025-2030,
This increase in lithium production will be achieved through
improvements in process efficiency, the adoption of new
technologies and the optimization of operations.
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Despite falling lithium prices182 new players are entering
this market: geothermal companies as Arvern Group183
and large Companies as Exxon-Mobil. In 2023, the latter
announced that it aims at becoming a leading producer
180 https://www.eramet.com/en/news/2024/07/eramet-inaugurates-its-direct-lithium-extractionplant-in-argentina-becoming-the-first-european-company-to-produce-battery-grade-lithiumcarbonate-at-industrial-scale/
181 https://www.codelco.com/prontus_codelco/site/docs/20160401/20160401130745/3105
31_comunicado_acuerdo_codelco_sqm_en.pdf
182 From a peak of $81000/ton in November 2022 to $14000/ton in June 2024
183 Lithium is found in deep geothermal brines.
HOME
Conclusion
While increasing sovereignty on critical equipment and
raw materials is important for the energy transition
success, the interconnections between countries are
strong and complex. It will thus be di昀케cult to cut links
with countries such as China.
Also, embargos are very often circumvented. For
example, the “energy hub in Turkey” project is nothing
more than an attempt to launder Russian gas supplies
by mixing them with gas from other producers like
Azerbaijan and Iran.
Moreover, these sovereignty policies will lead to cost
and prices increases that must be accepted by taxpayers
and citizens.
Finally let's not forget the saying “a bad agreement is
better than a good economic war”.
Given the current geopolitical tensions, it is probably not
the right time to implement these cooperative solutions.
Let’s hope that cooperation will be possible in a more
peaceful future world.
WEMO 2024
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of lithium, and work has begun for lithium production in
southwest Arkansas. It should start producing lithium in
2027, and by 2030 it would be able to supply batteries for
1 million EVs per year.184 The off taker would be “SK on” the
South Korean battery manufacturer.
184 https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/
exxon-aims-make-key-lithium-technology-decision-by-year-end-2024-02-15/
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Western companies are reacting on this dominance
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