Strong demand30 Oct 2022 10:20
Lithium Market Update: Q3 2022 in ReviewPriscila BarreraOct. 19, 2022 01:55PM PSTLITHIUM INVESTINGelectric vehicle chargingWhat happened to lithium in Q3 2022? Our lithium market update outlines key developments and explores what could happen moving forward.Click here to read the previous lithium market update.Following a 2021 that saw lithium rally to all-time highs, prices began to stabilize in the first half of 2022.Demand for the battery metal is expected to soar in the coming decades, with questions about supply increasing every day.How did lithium perform in the third quarter of 2022, and what’s ahead for the metal in the near term? Read on for an overview of the main news that impacted the lithium market in Q3, plus a look at what investors should watch out for the rest of the year.Lithium market update: Price performanceLithium kicked off the year on a positive note, with prices trading at all-time highs on the back of increased demand from the electric vehicle (EV) sector. Throughout the first half of the year, prices stabilized at historical highs and remained higher than expected due to renewed demand from China post-lockdowns.So far in 2022, prices have increased more than 123 percent, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data.In Q3, lithium prices in the Chinese domestic market saw strong upward momentum, Daisy Jennings-Gray of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence told the Investing News Network.“(This was) signaled towards the end of Q2, when COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in Shanghai at the start of June,” she said. “With demand picking up towards the end of the quarter, and ahead of Golden Week holiday, domestic prices sustained upward momentum throughout the quarter, hitting fresh highs in September.”Despite the macroeconomic headwinds, the Chinese domestic market appears so far to have been unaffected by the economic downturn, with the EV industry performing very well even though other sectors have experienced weakness.“Outside of China, there have been murmurs of weakening demand from traditional sectors, particularly in Europe and North America, although this had little downward bearing on pricing as supply remained very tight,” Jennings-Gray said.Lithium market update: Supply and demandThe EV industry is the main lithium demand driver, and the sector has been experiencing growth year after year. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), EV sales hit a record high in 2021, despite supply chain bottlenecks and the COVID-19 pandemic.Compared with 2020, sales nearly doubled to 6.6 million in 2021. In the first quarter of 2022, EV sales came to 2 million, a 75 percent increase compared to the first three months of 2021.Sales increased further in H1 2022, and the IEA estimates that EVs will account for around a 13 percent s