Lithium – European Perspective to 2030 and beyond.

E-mobility and the green energy transition (wind, solar energy storage) in general represent the largest growth areas for lithium-ion batteries. In 2030, more than 90% of the demand for lithium will come from this sector. Due to its properties, lithium cannot be substituted in the mass market of LIB in the near future and all types of currently available cathode technologies contain lithium. The EU voted to ban new ICE vehicles from 2035 onwards, which will be one of the major challenges for the industry and their supply chain. However, global economic developments have led some governments to questions these ambitious targets. Nonetheless, demand for lithium and other battery raw materials is expected to increase rapidly in the coming years, as the green transition is inevitable. Currently the EU is heavily dependent on imports for either batteries or raw materials (i.e. precursor materials) for this industry with China being in a very strong position across all of these materials. In order to reduce these dependencies the EU has put the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) in place with very ambitious goals and targets for mining, processing, recycling and import diversification. In this presentation, the current global and European market situation (supply chains) of lithium as well as production potentials will be discussed. Furthermore, implications of the newly announced CRMA strategic projects, the German Raw Materials Fund, Battery Regulation and ESG concerns as well as other regulatory measures on the market development will be addressed.