Future demand set to boost lithium supply

Article Excerpt

Lithium stocks have soared over the past 18 months as investors bet growing demand could lead to supply shortages. Lithium is mostly used for industrial applications, such as glass, ceramics and lubricants, and to a minor extent for battery manufacturing and in consumer electronics. However, total Lithium demand is expected to increase from 200 tonnes in 2016 to around 300 tonnes in 2020. That rise will likely come from electric vehicles, consumer electronics and electricity storage. By some estimates, the lithium market will develop serious shortages as early as 2018. Supply would likely take until 2020 to catch up. Rare earth metals are industrial metals that are typically mined as by-products in operations focused on precious metals and base metals. Compared to base metals, they have more specialized uses and are often more difficult to extract. Currently, about 17 elements in the periodic table are considered rare earth metals. That collection of chemical elements is crucial to many of the world’s most advanced…