Why lithium could become the new "oil"

Hello dear guests and subscribers of my channel. Today I want to share with you my thoughts about the fact that lithium will soon be as demanded as oil - our black gold. And I will try to reasonably substantiate my opinion. So, let's begin.

What is lithium and why is it so important

I want to start my story with a little historical background. So, the lightest metal on earth has been used for a very long time. So, since the 19th century, this metal has been used in the production of glass and porcelain, and since the middle of the 20th century, it has also been used in the nuclear industry.

And up to a certain point, the consumption of lithium was minimal, and its proven reserves seemed endless and unlimited.

This changed dramatically at the end of the 20th century when Sony developed and made available to the general public a reliable and inexpensive lithium-ion battery in 1991. And she literally captured the whole world.

The decisive advantage that led to the displacement of nickel batteries is the lightness of new batteries, faster charging speeds, and a weak memory effect.

And almost no one previously needed metal has become an important and highly demanded component of new batteries.

Why lithium consumption is on the rise

The boom of the 1990s turned out to be the initial serious impetus for the increased demand for batteries (and, accordingly, for lithium). years, when mobile gadgets such as players, tape recorders and especially cell phones gained immense popularity phones.

And in the last decade, actively developing electric cars have become an additional impetus in the extraction of lithium.

So in 2010 their total number barely reached 100,000 cars, and already in 2019 their total number exceeded 7.2 million cars (and the annual production was almost 2 million cars). But each of them has a rather large lithium-ion battery.

This is already a huge figure. And if you believe the forecasts of Deloitte, then by 2025 the total sales of electric cars will reach 12 million pieces, and by 2030 to about 20 million cars (and this is 25% of the total car market in the world).

Cheap lithium - expensive lithium

We are told about the rise or fall in oil prices almost every hour, but few people know how much lithium costs. So, in the already distant 2004, for a ton of carbonate equivalent of lithium, they were ready to pay 2 thousand evergreens, in In 2015, the price increased to 6 thousand, and in 2018 a historic record of 20 thousand dollars was recorded for one ton.

Now, in the midst of the crisis, prices fell to $ 6.75 thousand per ton, but, as analysts say, such a “low” price will not last long and may rise very strongly in the near future, and that's why.

Current realities and prospects of lithium consumption in the world

Of course, world producers, observing such a rush of demand, constantly increased production, and already last year more than 400 thousand tons were produced in aggregate. But the current crisis associated with the closure of economies due to the pandemic cooled the ardor somewhat, and the consumption of lithium in the world has sharply decreased.

But as strange as it sounds, the current crisis could be a reason for even more lithium consumption. Indeed, in Europe more and more talk about the transition to green energy and even plan to speed up this transition in the very near future.

This means there will be more electric cars and green stations (helio stations and wind farms). In order to store the electricity produced by them, special storage facilities will be used, which are built on the basis of lithium-ion batteries.

And what about Russia

Our entrepreneurs are trying to keep up with global trends, and a subsidiary of Rosatom is actively negotiating the development of lithium deposits in the Atacama Desert (Chile) and in Zimbabwe. And by 2023, they plan to start full-fledged production and thereby conquer at least 10% of the world market.

And given that, according to the most conservative forecasts, the demand for lithium in the coming years will be at the level of 1 million tons per year and will constantly grow from year to year, then we can say that lithium is becoming a modern "oil" with large prospects.

And naturally I would like our country to be among the leaders in this race for new oil, not only in the production and transportation of lithium, but also in the production of batteries themselves and not only.

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