Wednesday 12 July 2023

Critical minerals market for EVs, wind and solar hits $320bn in 2022

Driven by escalating demand and soaring prices, the market for critical minerals reached $320 billion (£247bn) in 2022, marking a doubling in size over the past five years.

That's according to the International Energy Agency and its latest Critical Minerals Market Review, which suggests between 2017 and 2022, the energy sector's demand played a pivotal role in driving a threefold increase in overall demand for lithium, a 70% surge in cobalt demand and a 40% rise in nickel demand.

Last year, clean energy applications accounted for 56% of the total demand for lithium, 40% for cobalt and 16% for nickel.

These figures represent a substantial increase compared to five years ago when clean energy applications made up only 30% of lithium demand, 17% of cobalt demand and 6% of nickel demand.