The lithium market - France

1.1 Definition and scope of the market

Lithium is an alkaline metal, often called "white gold". It is present in the earth's crust and in the oceans. This metal is never found in its native state (in metallic form), but is present in dissolved form. Today, lithium is mainly used in the manufacture of electric batteries. It is indeed present in cell phones, computers, tablets etc.. But it is mainly electric car batteries that drive the demand (more than half of the world demand). It is therefore one of the strategic materials of the energy transition.

Worldwide, lithium production is concentrated in 4 countries: Australia, Chile, China and Argentina, which share 95% of production. Similarly, 5 companies account for nearly 80% of global production. In 2021, the price of lithium has increased fivefold. However, the financial market for lithium can be considered opaque. Indeed, there is currently no official financial market for lithium.

Moreover, according to the International Energy Agency, demand will increase 40-fold by 2040.

In France, the government launched a call for projects in January 2022 as part of the France 2030 plan to extract and/or refine lithium as well as cobalt and nickel. The aim is to reduce dependence on these raw materials as much as possible. All the more so as the national territory has lithium reserves, notably in Alsace and in the Massif Central. In total, the geological and mining research bureau has identified 41 sources of lithium in France.

Nevertheless, the potential future French production could come up against the ecological impact of the extraction and refining of this metal.