Hardware Podcasts

Lithium’s wild ride

Catalyst · 2 Jan 2025 · 36m

What this episode covers

Ernest Scheyder, author of 'The War Below' and senior correspondent at Reuters, explains the volatile lithium market, detailing the shift from niche uses to battery supply chains and the current oversupply driven by Chinese producers operating at a loss. He discusses the technical and economic differences between hard rock spodumene and brine extraction, noting why hard rock now dominates production due to speed and the ability to produce lithium hydroxide directly. Scheyder also covers the geopolitical landscape, including Chile's nationalization efforts, the dominance of Chinese refining, and the challenges facing Western companies trying to build processing capacity outside of China.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Albemarle, SQM, Canelco, Rio Tinto, ExxonMobil, Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW, EnergyHub, Bloom Energy
Also
The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives, Atacama Desert, Great Salt Lake

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