How the U.S. Is Investing Billions to Compete With China’s Lithium Supply Chain | WSJ U.S. vs. China
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- Опубликовано: 13 июн 2024
- The U.S. used to be a global leader in lithium processing, but it lost its market control to China in the early 2000s. Since then, China has developed its own lithium supply chain, controlling 55% of the market. Now, the U.S. is trying to secure its own supply in a race for independence.
Lithium is a critical component in batteries and the world’s transition to green energy. Demand for the light metal has surged and is expected to reach nearly 2.5 million metric tons by 2028.
WSJ explores China’s major supply chain vulnerability and the U.S.’s long road to build its own.
0:00 Lithium’s importance
0:52 China’s strengths: processing
2:41 China’s vulnerability and the U.S.’s potential strength
7:01 The U.S.’s slow-growing domestic supply chain
U.S. vs. China
This original video series explores the rivalry between the two superpowers’ competing efforts to develop the technologies that are reshaping our world.
#Lithium #China #WSJ
The problem is that the United States doesn't want to contaminate its own land, so what it does is let other countries process the lithium for American companies at a cheaper price. The same goes for Australia. They transport raw materials from Western Australia to our country, Malaysia, for dirty processing, and then transport the refined rare earths back to Australia. They get the final product, we get the contamination. Another good example is plastic recycling, where waste is collected in the West including Australia, Canada, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, etc. and then dumped in Malaysia. The wealthy West gets clean land and we get trash, all in the name of recycling. You can easily google those facts online.
If your country (insert any here) wants to control the supply chain, they must face the downsides as well. No trade on earth is perfect. You can't complain about contamination but not complain about the profits your country is getting from this transaction.
The US could choose this as well, but apparently politicians / corporations in your country deem this "contamination" to be a good trade. If you don't like it, perhaps your country should not offer this kind of business. Nobody is forcing lithium to your country.
I would also like to hear more about the contamination you think of, I'd like to discern if it is hearsay / conspiracy theory or a real concern of yours.
It sounds great to be against some kind of global scheme, but it takes two parties to tango. China stopped accepting recycling of foreign plastic a while back, why is your country accepting it?
@@htko89 的确， 国际政治遵循的是基本的自然法则，实力起到决定作用。狮子吃肉，鬣狗啃骨头，秃鹫吃残渣。
中国之所以决定禁止垃圾进口，污染方面的考虑应该是次要原因，主要原因是中国的实力已经强大到不需要挣这种钱了。
但另一个方面，未来在国际社会上，能够考虑到全球所有国家共同发展，全球人的共同利益的思想和做法，才更有市场。所谓得道多助，失道寡助。
不过这还是需要有新的力量能够撼动西方的霸权，才可能发生。
A massive volcanic lithium reserve was just discovered in the northwest of the U.S. But the American lithium industry needs to build up its refining and processing capacity; until they do, China will remain the dominant supplier.
Lithium Americas owns what's known as the largest Lithium deposit in the world, in Nevada. Now that all the court cases have been resolved and permits obtained...that is going to change pretty quick. The government is also rumored to be providiing a 1 billion loan to accelerate that mining. They also own a lithium mine in South America.
Check out LAC in the market. Rarely have I seen all experts state universally it is a 100% buy and hold. Better get in quick because this stock is going to explode.
Also....it's pretty tough to mine a volcano. Maybe in 20 years?
Never heard about it. Looks like another lie.
@@DK-ev9dg See Science Times Sept. 11 "Massive Lithium Deposit Unearthed in Nevada-Oregon Volcanic Caldera: A Game Changer for Battery Production?" Estimated reserves 20m to 40m tons, which is more than Bolivia's salt flats. Would be the world's biggest.
@@tbraghavendran USA was recent. No US media is talking about it. It's just another tactics to subjugate China.
BUT SIR MY INDIA IS THE REAL SUPERPOWER NUMBER ONE🤗🇮🇳 WE HAVE THE BEST INFRASTRUCTURE AND HIGHSPEED RAIL 🤗🇮🇳 MEANWHILE IN CHINA PEOPLE STILL RIDE RICKSHAW EVERYWHERE AND THEY ALSO POOR DONT HAVE CAR . THIS WHY IM SO LUCKY LIVE IN SUPER INDIA THE CLEANEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD 🇮🇳🤗 , WE NEVER SCAM! WE GIVE RESPECT TO ALL WOMEN THEY CAN WALK SAFELY ALONE AT NIGHT AND WE HAVE CLEAN FOOD AND TOILET EVERYWHERE 🇮🇳🤗🚽, I KNOW MANY POOR PEOPLE JEALOUS WITH SUPER RICH INDIA 🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳
Wow the lady spoke with such poise and clarity. I wish to speak like her
When discussing lithium mining in Zimbabwe but show gold prospecting and cobalt mining elsewhere ....
The achilles heel of lithium is it's massive water use in refining. 500,000 gallons per ton. It already uses 1% of all fresh water on the planet, but BEVs are only 2.5% of the new light vehicles. To get to 25% of all new vehicles would required the equivent of all the water in the Great Lakes Michigan and Erie combined! So no matter how much Lithium ore you find most cannot be refined due to a lack of water.
A big difference between lithium mining and fossil fuel extraction is that, when a battery reaches end of life, all the lithium that went into making the battery is STILL in that battery and can be recycled. A point of inflection would occur in lithium mining when lithium from the recycling of batteries will surpass any new lithium that needs to be mined. Over the next decade, the first generation of lithium batteries will be reaching end of life and the recycling industry will really get off the ground.
Nuclear power and de-salination of sea water can be an alternative, though probably expensive. My guess os that the world will turn to more public transit in the future instead of a private vehicle for every human.
Absolutely false:
Lithium processing plants are water plants. They refine a high-grade lithium output using water that can be returned and re-used.
@@AgentSmith911 The control of US Government since the mid 1950's has been reflecting a profound investment from the same folks who profit from Fossil Fuel investment.
That appears to continue.
But as in 1967 when the realization that providing real assets to support currency used to promote the profits of Investors like the Brown and Root Folks who enjoyed a good return on investment that bought them a Senator in 1948, appear to still profit, so the corruption continues.
The Currency changed in 1971, but the Oligarchs remained.
I assume Capitalism will be the big loser this time.
It is not only vehicles that use batteries, they are using for everything, from computers , phones, plane, ships, trains, store energies etc.
Great once more
Good to see we work together this well and are so smart to secure our future as a species. 😀
Nice! Very informative and easy to understand. Thank you!
Lithium is plentiful. There is no need to fight for lithium. The value of lithium is tied to the ability to process the mineral.
Lithium is plentiful but not all of it is easily reachable or mineable.
@@Heist1000 You are right, the US is home to the largest lithium deposit - 7.9 million tons. However various interest groups do not allow it to be mined.
>> The value of lithium is tied to the ability to process the mineral. <
LOL. The problem is of mining which could take anywhere between 2+ years. The most pouplar brine extraction method likewise takes anywhere between 2 months to 2 years. It's not the refining process that's the bottleneck or adds the most value.
Until fusion is a thing, then its the energy ressource for the next 1000+ years
At any rate, Lithium is only a bridge-gap solution. Lithium will soon be replaced by other materials in the battery. Sodium batteries and Graphene batteries are already on the market.
UN: "The world must come together to reach the climate goals."
US: "Anything, that is not controlled by us, is a national security risk."
Profits before People,
that appears to now be the US prerogative?
@@danielhutchinson6604 More like Hegemony before Donors - common people aren't even on the list.
@@Blau_Max The proof that Wall Street writes Foreign Policy,
not any form of democracy allowing consent from the average Citizen.
Either way, the Oligarchs in the USA appear to be attempting to create another Gold Rush.
Economic pressure to open new forms of delivering profits.
Can Capitalism survive?
Everybody: "The sky is falling!" Panic is not science. Dr. Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace, is one of the most prominent skeptics of anthropogenic global warming and makes very solid arguments.
way too many commas. what clause is being separated?
By that time is lithium still the thing?
The US needs to spend money looking after its own people rather than having a cold-war mentality focusing on war and outdoing other countries. It breaks my heart seeing all these people living in tents after my last visit. The future is about countries working together, not against each other.
Zelensky doens't like your comment.
@@randomguy7175 Zelensky is just a regional player. US, China and Russia trying to carve up spheres of influence in Europe. All this sabre rattling caused Finland to join Nato, a major power grab for the west. To focus only on zelensky is short sighted.
Salton Sea California lithium extraction not mentioned?
Would make sd county even more crazy expensive. Good for Tesla + biotech though
Why do you add two full stops in U.S.?
Now imagine if the US and China could just get along instead. The two countries are good at different things, they should complement each other economically.
The US is only interested in global domination and absolute power so that they can bully all nations. China is more interested in modernising China and improving standards of living through production and trade .. I live in Africa and can attest to the fact that China has been uplifting Africans from poverty when the US has been doing the opposite (entrenching absolute poverty) ....The differences btw China and the US is like that of light and darkness....The US represents nothing but evil across the globe...It is why many countries are choosing to work with China and Russia including African countries .....The US has been self destructing for decades and is doing more harm to itself by its current policies....Russia and China are getting along so well because they do not see each other as competition that must be contained
Democracy vs authoritarian
America is a democracy on paper... the policy is made for corporations not the people.
Weak democratic countries are easier to be manipulated by stronger democratic ones(US).
They already do, trade wise
what about the Portuguese lithium reserves?
Lithium is a relatively transient requirement. A few decades ago lead was important; soon another battery chemistry will replace lithium.
Salton Sea area of CA is full of lithium.
Just wait til solid state batteries come out
Batteries are tech of yesterday.
Hydrogen cells are already taking over.
EV is overhyped and simply cannot replace the Oil.
China is ahead of the US in EV tech because unlike the US, China has to import most of its oil and gas.
The EV industry will help China become greener and more self-reliant when it comes to energy imports
>> China is ahead of the US in EV tech because unlike the US,
Doesn't the video say China gets most of its lithium from overseas?
Greener probably not so much considering the volume of coal power being brought online, and we can question how their raw resources are being secured. China is doing this for their own independence and for financial reasons, not environmental.
@@DestorrrrrIt's both and much of Raw materials comes from AUSTRALIA.
@@tooltalk Yeah.. I never hear of CATL or BYD 😂😂😂
Need to know about this busi
Now the war is making more sense
Lithium Americas Corp (thicker LAC) will accomplish in providing Lithium for the next 75 years or so.
I've been saying the same thing on this chain but man......there are some ignorant people out there concerning lithium. I'm buying LAC hand over fist on each dip.
How long will it take to construct the mineral and battery factories? and what's the remaining time window to compete with China?
>> How long will it take to construct the mineral and battery factories?
@@tooltalklol u need to wait 10 years to open a mine?? How are you going to compete against a country that can open a mine tommorow? 😂
@@theburden9920 >> lol u need to wait 10 years to open a mine?? How are you going to compete against a country that can open a mine tommorow? 😂
Content regarding philippines
No mention of the coal plants that power lithium refinement?
Once all that is said and done with Lithium
Sodium: "HELLLOOOOOOO! HERE COMES JOHNNYYYYYYYY!"
The short answer is a hard no.
A typical WSJ style artical, just fake some advantages and disadvantages by a so-called WSJ reporter in some unknown office
这些传统媒体应该去教堂，那里适合朗读诗歌和诗经的人说废话，毕竟十字架是不会说话的。朗读者可以放开任何想象。
Fun fact two digit percent raw concentrat mineral imported from Indonesian to ch
Mining of Lithium in itself damges the environment and the used batteries could be problematic to discard them for good.
US has probably the most undiscovered lithium deposits under its feet, but it will destroy the environment and the natural beauty of the US. The US should look into sodium batteries as an alternative.
with the current demand and the limited nature of ressources, NO NO they cannot
I like this video
We can get plenty. It's all about money.
Alternate name of this channel: US vs China 🫠
😂😂😂True
They even made one on fkin corn🌽🌽🌽
The comment about lithium prices in August 2023 vs January 2021, coming off a peak high got me 😂
this lady is good, intelligent and articulate, explain things very clearly.
With a Bit of bias.
@@discoverymoi , She is WSJ mouthpiece. What do you expect?
You forgot to mention that there are multiple Chinese directors at Lithium Americas
Lithium is such a small percentage of the materials used in an EV battery, not sure what all this hype is about.
I guess it's because lithium, along with cobalt, is the most expensive material (per weight) in a EV battery -- especially last year!
Didn’t we just find huge lithium deposits on the
Border of Nevada and Utah!
Wasn't a massive lithium deposit recently discovered in southern California?
Salton Sea area. One huge one.
Interesting power play, lithium's the new gold 🌍!
What about the oil🤔
That lady has a very soothing voice
3:53 "countries that are FRIENDLY WITH the US", sorry I think you mean "submissive to"
Better off spending that money on an alternative to Lithium batteries.
The US has a huge potential to become independent when it comes to lithium. They have the 3rd largest reserves of resources in the world. The 2nd and 1st are located in Argentina and Bolivia so close to the US. Canada also has large amounts of the resource and so does Mexico to a smaller extend. Australia is also rich and is already a leader when it comes to mining.
I assume the US is just going to colonize Argentina and Bolivia, and consider it USA's "backyard". Canada also has no strategic independence and is just a resource colony for Anglo-Saxon empire.
@@Western_Declineso what are you going to do other than whine about it?
potential lol, your government is shutting down as of the time of this comment over dumb culture wars. You need long term 20 yr planning to even get in the door in terms of refining and supply chain creation. 4 yrs from now everything will be same again, back to square one.
@@Western_Decline The US is unlikely to touch Argentina because it's large and the political and refugee crisis would be huge. Argentina is the second-largest recipient of IMF loans likely for that same reason. However, Bolivia isn't so safe.
US foreign-policy in Central and South America has always been counterproductive and that's partly what helps China so much. The US needs to change its approach, including against Venezuela and Cuba. They were never a threat to the US, and the US should mend ties with them like it did with Vietnam decades ago.
but the cost and time are big it take many year for construction of plant then another year for debugging and placing the equipment for refinement and the cost would be a tens of billion of dollar
Mmm mmm that's some good lithium.
❤❤❤ white gold. build more space colonization battery storage
Why is there a burrito in the thumbnail?
Quebec province in Canada will have every thing to make their own batterie cells from A TO Z by 2030
why? ev and apple's iphones and other products which wsj advertises
Hit 200k today. Thank you for all the knowledge and nuggets you had thrown my way over the last months. Started with 14k in June 2022
Cant wait to see the effects on the environment
Sodium ion is coming. China already has more sodium ion battery investments so when are you going to say anything about it?
There is no rush to sodium, b/c our immediate priority is to electrify moving vehicles. Low energy dense batteries such as sodium are mainly for ESS -- eg, powerwalls or grid, which can wait til 2030 or so.
US has Thacker Pass but still not given full access
China is winning the race for batteries not because of resources but technology and know-how. Today, the Chinese are 10 years ahead in battery technology. The US needs to run double the speed but the Chinese are willing to double the efforts to keep their advantage. I personally don't think America will catch up... The only solution is to cooperate with china in a win-win deal. America lost the monopoly of power and technology, it must completely change policies. Times of invasions and endless wars of agression are over, we're entering times of either cooperation or annihilation of all...
Why is the US so slow these days🤔
The train already left the US station long ago. LOL LOL LOL
I wonder how much lithium there is.
US just recently found a big deposit of lithium in Nevada.
Water !?
China's BYD is going to announce sodium ion battery powered cars by next year. This will drastically reduce the price of their low range vehicles. Lithium will still be used but sodium ion will be what will revolutionize the EV space. Lithium will slowly be used for niche vehicles. Ie: Only for long range vehicles.
Don't forget cell phones, cameras, computers, drones. There are tons of uses for lithium beyond cars.
sodium isn't for high-energy vehicles -- they are for ESS.
@@tooltalkWhat is ESS?
@@slomo4672 : ESS == energy storage systems. Think Tesla Powerwalls or stationary power grids. Not all batteries are suitable for moving vehicles b/c of weight and EVs are already much heavier than ICE counterparts.
Sodium ion has very low energy density. It will not work on most vehicles.
There is a lot of lithium in the world, look at lithium prices in last 2 years
Hopefully not and we can move on to sodium which doesn't have serious mining issues around water consumption.
Sodium ion batteries will replace Lithium ion in EV batteries, once the the super fast charging network is mature and fully deployed across the nation in sufficient saturation. EV Range anxiety simply wont exist once the charging network is fully mature. Sodium is far more abundant than Lithium, cheaper, can charge faster and is safer and works better in winter.
Electric Scooters, Electric Vehicles is the top Future Transportation all over the world , China is on the top in the world to Produce these Vehicles
Lithium price is actually dropping, supply is ramping, sodium batteries are coming quickly in 2024 with CATL and BYD.
This is the new oil and gold
We are not racing to acquire, lithium, lithium, companies, and suppliers. Want you to race to get it before we don’t need it anymore I think we’re almost there right now.
Lithium, cobalt, nickel, neodymium, praseodymium and graphite are essential for making good EVs.
My source on volume of water in Erie - Brainly; says it's volume is 116 cu miles, I think that is 126 trillion gallons not quadrillion. So sources seem to differ but judging roughly by the size and average depth this figure looks rougly accurate. Lake Michigan would be proportional. Could be brainly is off but doesn't seem by anything like that much.
I love the continued use of "decarbonization". Lithium extraction will not get us to net zero.
You do realize that the US has lithium right we just are not mining it
toyota has a Solid state Battery Now...
Not a single word on Tesla's Corpus Christie's mega lithium refining facility, currently being built since spring of this year!!! They will process enough lithium there to make 1 million cars every year.
Wow, Christ's body being desecrated by the pollutive lithium refining facility.
@@PhiloSurfer If only you'd know what you're talking about... They have the cleanest process ever invented for lithium.
US should concentrate on researching capacitors batteries if they want to be productive!! Stop trying to off-shore factories if you want to revalent.
What about the solid state battery? 🤔
come back in 20 years.
Came back . China still no 1@@tooltalk
There are numerous developing countries in Southeast Asia. Why isn't lithium abundant in that region?
true
They need to stop making so many vehicles for no reason
The world needs insane numbers of EVs to decarbonize transport.
Lithium is a commodity and no country is going to be able to monopolize it. This is not OPEC. While we should take steps to secure a healthy lithium supply chain, it's not nearly the Achilles' heel everyone assumes it is. Prices will jump up and down just like with other resources.
This is also why there is a *LOT* of money being invested into using something besides lithium for EV car batteries. One promising material is phosphorus, which is found around the world.
yes
2 of the biggest Chinese batteries companies in the world, CATL and BYD also managed to create a sodium battery which sodium can be found everywhere.
Phosphorous is a bad choice. We're reliant on it for fertiliser and that alone is decreasing the known reserves while slowly ticking up the cost, start turning it into batteries and you're fast tracking famine.
lithium isn't a rare mineral, bear in mind. The problem lies in the existing capacity to extract lithium from the earth. So while phosphorus might be a viable alternative, there is no incentive to divert supply from an already mature phosphorus market into a very immature EV battery market.
Most rock phosphorous (superphosphate) is contaminated with cadmium, a banned toxic metal. It is so hard to separate that the super sold for fertiliser still has the Cd in it and the build up in soils is starting to show in human urine.
No need the USA has discovered a huge deposit on US soil if you make this kind of video don’t you think you should be up to date with current news items
True.
I pray we have no lithium soon
BUT SIR MY INDIA IS THE REAL SUPERPOWER NUMBER ONE🤗🇮🇳 WE HAVE THE BEST INFRASTRUCTURE AND HIGHSPEED RAIL 🤗🇮🇳 MEANWHILE IN CHINA PEOPLE STILL RIDE RICKSHAW EVERYWHERE AND THEY ALSO POOR DONT HAVE CAR . THIS WHY IM SO LUCKY LIVE IN SUPER INDIA THE CLEANEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD 🇮🇳🤗 , WE NEVER SCAM! WE GIVE RESPECT TO ALL WOMEN THEY CAN WALK SAFELY ALONE AT NIGHT AND WE HAVE CLEAN FOOD AND TOILET EVERYWHERE 🇮🇳🤗🚽, I KNOW MANY POOR PEOPLE JEALOUS WITH SUPER RICH INDIA 🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳🤗🇮🇳
US has no lithium
Spending billions of dollars on something you have no knowledge of is a waste
Irony is lithium mine also destroy environment just like fossil fuel, we need figure out how to do aestroid mining
The fact the US' goal is to focus on its competitors while China is to self improve is a disaster in the making for the former. Apple suceeded cos they focus on their own products and services. Not on what the competitor is doing.
By the time the US has their lithium refining plants running smoothly, China would have progress 2 leaps ahead in new battery technology LOL.
Your unfounded optimism is hilarious. 😂
@@Seastallion says the hillbillie potato farmer?🤣
@@Seastallionhes not an optimist thats reality. Thats basically what happened to the rare earth industry.
The Washington Monument in DC was crowned by an Al capstone.
Lithium is decent in terms of orbital energy exchange at near ambient temps, but it depends on lattice structure and how cells are merged in to a battery collection. 🤭🥱😴
It's remarkable how both the United States and China are actively pursuing avenues for their self-reliance, whereas the European Union seems to lack significant innovation and risks becoming subservient to either the USA or the broader Anglo-Saxon sphere, akin to Canada, Australia, the UK, and Ireland
Risks becoming? Are you implying that the EU is not in fact already an American client state?
LOL. Sure, wumao.
Europe is a lost cause.
They just strike everytime they need to do hard work lol
Good job wumao, Xitler is proud.
You Wumaos are second to none, you have posted this comment under another account name, "@marcussver620", everyone knows that Wumaos have multiple account names, at least be smart about it.
There is enough to share. Stop lying
Lithium is not the critical metal, Cobalt is. Democratic Republic of Congo mines over 70% of it.
Except tesla already sells 50% of all their evs with lfp since late 2021 they use no cobalt or nickel.
And the lfp market is 43% of all ev cell production this year through q2 reported numbers.
With lmfp and m3p chemistries just coming out and on par energy density wise with the best nmc cells from just a few years ago.
And sodium has entered the mix for low end short range city evs and energy storage applications as well. Plus recycling is ramping up every where these day's. Redwoods materials in the us wants to supply enough recycled materials for 10,000,000 U.S. evs by 2030. 👍🏻😎
.... don't cry for me Argentina.....
Racing? China already secured lithium for a long time
Coup in Bolivia: 💤💤💤
China closing deals: 😡😡😡
Don't worry we are investing on biofuels
Hope they don’t go and discover weapons of mass destruction in another man’s country because of this lithium
You can hate or Disagree with CCP but they did a good thing for themselfs to push Lithium Production.
CCCP is soviet union
CCP did not want to do this, they had no choice or they would of had a revolution that ousted them. Energy Security + Breathable Air was threatening their power domestically.
Let's not forget to harvest that vast field of lithium containing nodules at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
What's her @ ? Absolute Lithium bae
This is like the space race between the US and Soviet Union. I wonder who will win this time!