Lithium
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[edit] Lithium
Lithium is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft alkali metal with a silver-white color. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive, corroding quickly in moist air to form a black tarnish. For this reason, lithium metal is typically stored under the cover of oil.
[edit] General uses
It is used as a desgasifier and refining agent for molten metals and in the production of copper and its alloys. Also, it acts as a grain refinement agent and increases the fluidity of the molten metals. Due to its lo w atomic mass, lithium compounds are always present in relatively small molecular masses, giving advantages in certain applications, as in the use of lithium hydroxide in the carbon dioxide absorption in submarines and spacecrafts. [1]
The properties of Lithium as the lightest metal and a good conductor of heat and electricity have lent itself to a variety of applications commercially. Lithium is used in glass, ceramics, and aluminum production. One of the highest growing industries using lithium is the battery industry, as the increasing popularity of portable equipment has led to significant and pervasive use of lithium batteries.[2]
[edit] Pricing structure
Lithium prices have steadily climbed since the 1970s with no decline. However, prices recently have stabilized as a result of a decline in demand for aluminum products from the US and Europe. Lithium appears to be completely inelastic. The main industries that use lithium only count it as one small component of the total cost of the products. Since lithium use is so diversified between industries, it tends to maintain a stable level of consumption and prices have risen at an average growth rate of 4% since 1970.[3]
[edit] World Market
The last couple of years have seen a significant shortfall in supply of lithium minerals and brines to the market. This has been reflected in record prices for lithium products. Talison estimates the shortfall in 2006 to have been between 5kt to 10kt LCE. As well as collating the data from producers and consumers to calculate the supply gap, these numbers were confirmed by the fact that had Talison produced additional product in 2006, it would have been able to place an extra 5kt LCE with existing and new customers. Talison expects to see the market to move towards a balanced position by the end of the year as additional production from the chemical market in China, the expansion of brine production from SCL and the commissioning of the Qinghai CITIC brines project starts to meet demand. Likewise in the glass/ceramics market, Talison has marginally increase production of its high grade products to meet demand in this market sector. The next few years are a little less clear. It is assumed in preparing the forecast that no catastrophic global event will occur and that demand for lithium products will continue its strong trend. A significant quantity of lithium feedstock is planned to come on-stream over this period, which, if all the producers met announced production forecasts would drive the market into oversupply. However, reality is that not all will achieve their forecast targets and one needs to also account for throughput issues and/or declining production profiles from existing operations. Talison has assessed a number of scenarios and sees that in the most likely cases the market being in balance to a mild oversupply in 2008 and 2009. Beyond 2009, the outlook remains positive as growth in demand absorbs the additional supply.[4]
[edit] Current consumption trends
The United States remained the leading consumer of lithium minerals and compounds and the leading producer of value-added lithium materials. Because only one company produced lithium compounds from domestic resources, reported production and value of production data cannot be published. Estimation of value for the lithium mineral compounds produced in the United States is extremely difficult because of the large number of compounds used in a wide variety of end uses and the great variability of the prices for the different compounds. [5]
[edit] Price forecasts
- The global lithium carbonate market capacity is 80-90 thousand tons, and from the perspective of the inorganic salt annual report in Asia, the global lithium carbonate demand amounted to 83.8 thousand tons in 2006, and the supply was 85 thousand tons, so the supply and demand was balanced. It is forecasted that the global lithium carbonate demand will exceed 90 thousand tons in 2007, whose growth margin will reach about 8%; in addition, the global lithium demand will increase at the pace of 5-7% in the following 3-5 years.[6]
[edit] Major producers
Chile was the leading lithium chemical producer in the world; Argentina, China, Russia, and the United States also were major producers. Australia, Canada, and Zimbabwe were major producers of lithium ore concentrates.
The identified lithium resources total 760,000 tons in the United States and more than 13 million tons in other countries. [7]
[edit] External References
- ↑ http://nautilus.fis.uc.pt/st2.5/scenes-e/elem/e00330.html
- ↑ http://www.sterlinggroupventures.com/market2.html
- ↑ http://www.sterlinggroupventures.com/market9.html
- ↑ http://www.talison.com.au/pdfs/2007%20Minor%20Metals%20Conference.pdf
- ↑ http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/lithimcs07.pdf
- ↑ http://www.piribo.com/publications/prescription_drugs/china_lithium_carbonate_market_forecast_report_20082010.html
- ↑ http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/lithimcs07.pdf
