# Lithium’s wild ride

- Show: [Catalyst](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst)
- Published: 2025-01-02
- Length: 36m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-01-02-lithiums-wild-ride

## Summary

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.

## Chapters

- [0:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-01-02-lithiums-wild-ride#t=1) Introduction: Ernest Scheyder and the Lithium Market
- [3:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-01-02-lithiums-wild-ride#t=216) Brine vs. Hard Rock: Production Methods and Geography
- [7:12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-01-02-lithiums-wild-ride#t=432) Lithium Carbonate vs. Hydroxide: Use Cases and Processing
- [10:38](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-01-02-lithiums-wild-ride#t=638) China's Dominance in Lithium Refining and Processing
- [14:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-01-02-lithiums-wild-ride#t=866) The Price Spike and Crash: Supply, Demand, and Geopolitics
- [21:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-01-02-lithiums-wild-ride#t=1276) Chile's Nationalization and Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE)
- [27:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-01-02-lithiums-wild-ride#t=1639) US Industrial Policy, the IRA, and Future Developments

## Topics

- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [Policy, trade & tariffs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/policy-trade-and-tariffs)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

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

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Electric Car Superiority | The Supply Chain is All Mine | Cookies for Calculus](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2020-07-10-electric-car-superiority-the-supply-chain-is-all-mine-cookies-for-calculus) (EE Times Current)
- [From the Battlefield to the Supply Chain: A Marine’s Mission to Secure Critical Minerals with Ian Killough, President of Ridgeline Elements](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tough-tech-vets/2025-02-10-from-the-battlefield-to-the-supply-chain-a-marines-mission-to-secure-critical-mi) (Tough Tech Vets)
- [China, Entrepreneurs and Blue Collar Reality](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2010-10-27-china-entrepreneurs-and-blue-collar-reality) (The Amp Hour)
- [The Same Wavelength](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-03-21-the-same-wavelength) (The Amp Hour)
- [Ludibrious Luxating Layout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-01-24-ludibrious-luxating-layout) (The Amp Hour)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2025-01-02-lithiums-wild-ride. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Catalyst.