Commodities
Home›Commodities›Mining›Lithium miners post strong profits on rising battery s…
Lithium miners post strong profits on rising battery storage demand
Albemarle said global lithium demand rose 45% year over year through May, as supply lagged and widened the market gap.
Lithium miners are seeing strong first-half profits as demand for batteries used in energy storage grows, according to OilPrice citing Bloomberg.
Two Chinese lithium companies, Tianqi Lithium Corp. and Ganfeng Lithium Group, reported their biggest profits in three years for the first six months of the year, the outlet said. OilPrice also noted that Albemarle reported global lithium demand increased 45% year over year through May, driven largely by battery storage demand.
The article said supply has been growing more slowly than demand, helping create a gap that benefits lithium miners. OilPrice added that officials at Tianqi Lithium warned overseas supply could be disrupted by policy and logistics, and that production restarts may take time to translate into new supply.
OilPrice further linked the demand pickup to broader energy trends, including plans by CATL to have energy storage make up about half of its global sales by 2030, and said the war in the Middle East has also boosted interest in alternative energy and storage to reduce dependence on Middle Eastern oil and gas.