Supply and demand prospect of global lithium resources and some suggestions

With the development of emergent industries such as information technology and new energy vehicles, the importance of lithium is increasing with each passing day. Based on an analysis of the present situation of lithium resource in the world in the aspects of its distribution and its supply and demand as well as the impact of the future development of lithium ion batteries on the demand of lithium resource, the authors hold that the present relaxed global lithium market will become tightening in the mid-short term; nevertheless, in the long run, there will be no shortage of global lithium resources. The main challenges facing the lithium industry are that the production concentration degree is too high, domestic extraction technology of saline lake lithium should be improved, and the safety of lithium ion battery should be increased. Some suggestions have been put forward in this paper, which argue that lithium should be categorized into the new energy minerals inventory as critical mineral resources in China, that the lithium strategic reserve should be established, and that the extraction process in the saline lake with high Mg/Li ratios should be strengthened.