As recently reported by the Financial Times, South Korea's intention to commercially extract lithium from seawater by 2015 only underscores the increasing intensity of the lithium rush in the global lithium-ion battery industry.
That Korea is interested in investing in alternative sources of lithium should not surprise anyone at all. As is well known, LG (LGERF.PK), one of Korea´s largest companies, is known to possess one of the most competitive Li-ion battery technologies in the world which will be carried by General Motors´ Volt to be launched later this year. There is though another recent event that signals the Korean interest. It has to do with Hyundai´s (HYMLF.PK) announcement that by the end of the year it will launch the first hybrid car with Li-polymer batteries. Note that Hyundai is nowadays the world´s fourth largest automaker.
On the one hand, as both GM and Nissan (NSANY.PK) approach the launching date of their Volt and Leaf cars, the electric vehicle market is beginning to take shape On the other, Hyundai´s announcement confirms my original argument that if Li-ion batteries are to be used quite soon in plug-ins and both range-extended and battery EVs, then why not utilize them for conventional hybrids as well?
Both pieces of information also come precisely when China just announced that it may cut its Li and rare earth exports.
I wonder what implications, if any, these moves will have on the future of the lithium market in general and on the Bolivian prospects to export its lithium in particular.
Disclosure: Author is a lithium economics analyst based in La Paz, Bolivia. In January 2010 he participated as an invited speaker at the Lithium Supply & Markets Conference held in Las Vegas, USA. He holds no positions in any stocks.
