(Kitco News) - According to a recent presentation prepared by SFA (Oxford) and Sibanye-Stillwater, despite significant macro and logistical headwinds for car sales in general, battery electric vehicles (BEV) sales continue to surprise on the upside.
Analysts from SFA (Oxford) noted that BEV production appear to be weathering the global component supply disruptions better than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle production.
"Most recent upgrades driven by North America, as multiple OEMs commit to upgrading production footprint in the region. OEMs keep upgrading BEV production targets, committing large sums of capital to transition to BEVs," the authors of the report said.
Importantly, BEV sales in China doubled in H1 2022, capturing 61% of global sales over the period, with almost all of the top 15 BEV markets registered positive year-on-year growth in BEV sales, despite declining overall vehicle sales.
"We expect to see a much wider range of new BEV models being offered to consumers, with a wider range of price points, including a range of new entrants, in the next few years," analysts forecast.
According to a report, the global lithium market is forecast to move to mounting deficits from next year onwards, but supply from "probable" and "low-risk possible" projects could potentially keep the market balanced through to 2025.
Analysts said that lithium prices may have peaked, but they remain at extremely high levels for both lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) and lithium hydroxide (LiOH).
"Lithium prices are likely to reach a floor in 2024, before starting to rise to incentivise higher-risk projects," they concluded.
Cobalt and nickel, other important components of lithium-ion batteries used in BEVs, are expected to be in surplus this year, with the cobalt market projected to slip back into deficit in 2023.
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