Even though lithium prices have given back more than 87 per cent since November 2022 because of overproduction, falling EV sales and robust subsidies from the Chinese government, the International Energy Agency forecasts demand for the metal growing by 10 times by 2050 driven by the EV and battery markets, supporting a long-term allocation in lithium stocks.
EV sales in 2023 ended 3.5 million units or 35 per cent higher than 2022, representing a more than 600 per cent increase since 2018. The global lithium battery market, for its part, is set to surpass US$180 billion by 2032. It’s riding a more than 14 per cent compound annual growth rate, a full 40 per cent higher than the S&P 500’s average annual return.
These tailwinds have driven lithium demand to a current average of 250,000-300,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent per year – or half of the world’s total lithium supply…
