Albemarle, the world’s largest lithium producer, says it is not economically viable to build a supply chain in North America and Europe that could wrest control of critical minerals from China.
Kent Masters, chief executive of the US-based group, told the Financial Times that the “returns are not there” to pivot supply of the commodity, which is crucial for the electric vehicle industry, to the west because of low lithium prices and high operating costs.
“We were trying to pivot to the west . . . the prices we see in the market don’t really allow us to do that,” Masters told the Financial Times, adding that the US was “absolutely” at risk of losing the race to compete with China on lithium.
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