Demand for electric cars (EV), which has emerged as a clean alternative to traditional vehicles, has also increased in recent years. GlobalData, a leading data, and analysis company estimate that the demand for lithium needed for the production of lithium-ion batteries for use in electrical and electronic components will exceed double from 26.7kt in 2018 to 58.3kt in 2022.
By 2017, 1.1 million new electric cars were sold globally, of which China accounted for over 50 percent, followed by the United States by 17.3 percent. In Europe, Norway accounted for 5.4 percent of global sales, followed by Germany (4.8 percent) and Great Britain (4.1 percent).
According to GlobalData, the global EV market is expected to grow by a significant CAGR (1.) of 15.6 percent by 2022, due to the growing popularity of electrical and electronic components in Asian countries and in the Pacific (APAC) and Europe. The company further explains that China will lead the global EV market by more than 50 percent and grow three times faster than the US over the next five years.
This, in turn, will lead to increased investments in new and existing lithium mines in Chile and Australia, Argentina and Canada.
(1.) CAGR is an abbreviation of the Compound Annual Growth Rate, ie the average annual growth rate. It is a measure of the return on an investment, such as a bond or fund, during a given investment period, e.g. 4 or 8 years.
