China Could Produce a Third of the World’s Lithium by 2025

(Bloomberg) — China’s efforts to ramp up lithium extraction could give it control over nearly a third of the world’s supply by the middle of the decade, according to UBS AG.

The Swiss banking giant said it expects Chinese-controlled mines, including projects in Africa, to more than triple output to 705,000 tons by 2025 from 194,000 tons in 2022. That would lift China’s share of the mineral critical to electric-vehicle batteries to 32% of global supply from 24% last year, according to a note published Friday.