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(Kitco News) - Industrial policy helped spur China's lead in the battery metal market, said Joe Lowry, Founder of Global Lithium.
Lowry spoke to Kitco on June 21, 2023 at the 15th Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials 2023 in Henderson, Nevada.
China dominates the battery metal sector. Benchmark Minerals forecasts that China will produce 69% of the world’s lithium-ion batteries in 2030. The country's leading automobile manufacturer, BYD, is starting to rival Tesla in the number of electric vehicles produced.
Lowry said China was compelled to look at renewables years ago. The country was highly polluted early this century with smog blanketing major cities. Attempts to curb pollution helped spur the transition to cleaner forms of energy. Lowry also said the country was willing to make some big industrial bets.
"I was living in Shanghai when you couldn't see across the street many mornings, so [China] had two things: they had a real need to clean up the air, and the provinces were throwing money at any kind of project," said Lowry.
"A lot of people like to characterize what happened in China as this overnight success. It was an overnight success 20 years in the making."
Coverage of 15th Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials 2023 sponsored by Lindian Resources (ASX:LIN).
0:30 - How China built its lead in critical minerals
3:10 - Lithium supply controlled by China
4:30 - Chile's semi-nationalization of lithium sector
6:30 - Substitution in the lithium space
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