The Paris-based International Energy Agency said in a report published Friday that steep drops in the prices of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite last year were “good news for consumers” but discouraged investment in the mining of those critical minerals. The world is on track meet only 70% of global copper demand and 50% of lithium demand by 2035, the agency added.
However, “today’s well-supplied market may not be a good guide for the future, as demand for critical minerals continues to rise,” it added. Demand for graphite, for example, is projected to quadruple by 2040 from the current level if the world takes steps to avoid warming above 1.5 degrees. The price of lithium cratered 75% in 2023, while prices for cobalt, nickel and graphite plunged between 30% and 45%. Those falls helped drive down the price of batteries by 14%, according to the IEA.