INTHEBLACK August 2025 - Magazine - Page 42
F E AT U R E
“At present, there is an oversupply of about 200,000
to 300,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.
We are likely to see this imbalance persist for another
two to three years. In this environment, success will
come down to resilience and whether producers can
remain profitable at today’s lower price levels.”
JAIRO BERNAL CPA, MINING AND RESOURCES EXPERT
from hard rock deposits in Australia, or from
brine found in the salt flats of Chile and
Argentina. Cobalt is predominantly mined
in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), while nickel is largely produced
in Indonesia and graphite is sourced mainly
from China, Brazil and Mozambique.
And this explains the complexity and global
nature of the battery supply chain.
Mining companies can sell their raw
materials through several channels.
They can do so directly to battery
manufacturers such as CATL, LG Energy
Solution, Panasonic or Samsung; or to
automakers like Tesla, BYD, General Motors
and BMW via direct or long-term contracts.
Alternatively, large commodity traders
including Glencore, Trafigura, Sumitomo
and Hanwha purchase materials from
miners and distribute them.
The majority of battery producers are
headquartered in China, also home to
approximately 75 per cent of the world’s
lithium refineries that process raw lithium
into lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate.
“The raw material we produce in Australia
and sell on is known as spodumene
concentrate,” Bernal says. “It has a greyishwhite, sand-like appearance and it is
produced after the ore is crushed. In a
34%
A$55.2b
annual growth of global battery demand
to 2030
forecasted additional GDP from Australian
diversified battery industries by 2030
82%
A$25.8b
Australia’s forecasted renewable energy
generation by 2030 (as a percentage
of total energy generation)
forecasted additional GDP from Australian
mining-focused industries (mining raw
materials for batteries) by 2030
Source: Charging Ahead: Australia’s battery-powered future, Accenture and Future Battery Industries CRC
42 INTHEBLACK August 2025
