High Concentration Heightens Risk for Power Lithium-ion Battery Supply Chains Globally

Abstract

Abstract Global low-carbon contracts, along with the energy and environmental crises, have promoted the rapid development of the new-energy vehicle industry and encouraged the rapid development of the power battery industry. As the current first choice of power battery, lithium-ion batteries have overwhelming advantages. However, the explosive growth of the demand for power lithium-ion batteries is likely to cause crises such as resource shortages and supply-demand imbalances, hindering the future of the low-carbon world. This study adopts qualitative and quantitative research methods to comprehensively evaluate the global power lithium-ion battery supply and demand risks by analyzing the global material flow of these batteries. Based on data availability, we use qualitative research on the world reserves and mine production of critical raw materials and quantitative dynamic material flow analysis for the shipment, installation, and global consumption of the batteries. The results show that each process in the power lithium-ion battery industry is highly concentrated, but each within different countries or regions, creating significant risks for the raw material supply, battery shipping, and market demand sides. The comprehensive results show that the supply risk of power lithium-ion batteries is very high.