Understand lithium price drivers
from a supply perspective

Demand for lithium from battery manufacturing skyrocketed 500% over the last decade, largely driven by accelerated electric vehicle growth. Lithium carbonate hit peak price of US$21,500/tonne, during October 2017, but has since been reducing back towards US$13,000/tonne.

However, the average contract price of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA's (SQM) and Albemarle Corp.'s operations on the Salar de Atacama in 2018, were up 25% year over year, compared to a 4% drop in the yearly average spot price.

Pricing in the lithium market should be viewed on a product-by-product basis, with spot prices giving valuable insight on trends but not viewed as an absolute price.

Understand what drives lithium pricing and review the sources of lithium, download our snapshot.