Lithium ion battery prices rose for the first time this year, according to Benchmark Minerals.
The agency said the global weighted average lithium ion battery price rose 3.8% in May 2023 to $110.7/kWh, compared to the previous month.
Battery prices are particularly being impacted by lithium carbonate prices in China, which increased by 55% in May, driven by a recovery in the country’s EV market.
Year to date, however, the global average cell price is down 13.2%.
Speaking at the Battery Gigafactories USA 2023 conference in Washington DC, Benchmark’s chief executive Simon Moores said that volatility in prices is here to stay.
“As the critical mineral industries go from the niche to the mainstream, there is simply not enough supply to go round,” said Moores.
According to Moores, between now and 2035, $920 billion dollars will need to be invested to bridge this raw material disconnect.
“A disconnect [is] where the mine supply is going about half the pace of battery EV demand. And that gap is going to take a long time to bridge, it’s going to take more than this decade to bridge,” Moores said.
“Most of this is mining, $220 billion for raw materials. It’s probably a $3 trillion dollar challenge over the next twenty years to actually build this infrastructure.”
