Lithium projects outside China are at the mercy of the market, slowing and expanding as lithium prices fluctuate. However, domestic investment is fairly constant. As a result, China is the only country that can capture lithium from raw materials to finished batteries, independent of imported chemicals and components. This is primarily due to the political environment, which focuses on reducing the cost of lithium rather than maximizing shareholder value.
However, China does not produce enough lithium to satisfy its domestic appetite. In addition, only about 10 percent of the material used in batteries is actually lithium. The country still relies on imports of cobalt, nickel, copper, and graphite, which so far guarantees some mutual cooperation. “This is a really interwoven system,” said battery materials analyst and author Lukasz Bednarski. Lithium: Battery Advantage and Global Competition for New Energy Revolution.. “The western world and China have a kind of co-dependence.”
Neither side was interested in starting a trade war, which resulted in a slightly disturbing standoff, Baron says. “If China decides not to export electric vehicle batteries, Western countries may decide not to export nickel to China,” he says. “China does not have a refinery to produce the highest purity nickel.”
As both sides invest in energy self-sufficiency, the power balance can change. While the West is competing to build mines and factories, China is beginning to utilize undeveloped lithium sources in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the salt lakes of the Tibetan Plateau.It may involve human costs: Report by New York Times Evidence of forced labor was found in a mining project in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. This could be a potential flash point if sanctions designed to protect the Uighur minority prevent Western companies from importing chemicals mined in the area. I have.
After all, lithium isn’t basically deficient. As prices rise, new technologies may become more economically viable. For example, a method of extracting lithium from seawater, or a whole new type of battery chemistry that completely eliminates the need for lithium. However, in the short term, supply shortages may prevent switching to EVs. “In a year when raw material prices are soaring and there is a temporary shortage in the market, problems can occur,” says Bednarski.
If that happens, Chinese carmakers will get a big advantage. Already, Chinese brands like Nio and Chinese-owned European brands like MG are launching the cheapest EVs on the market in the west. “Chinese-owned Western companies have a greater advantage over their European and US competitors,” says Baron.
Once in operation, Quinana’s lithium plant will ship 24,000 tonnes of Australian lithium hydroxide annually. However, lithium mined in Australia for EVs manufactured in South Korea and Sweden and sold in Europe and the United States relies on China at all stages of its journey. The old oil refinery shell remains a monument to a century-long battle for fossil fuels that have reshaped the world, but new races are underway and China is in control.