PLS Ltd., a pure-play lithium producer in Australia, said demand for the battery metal in power storage is helping to offset slower electric vehicle growth in the US.
The energy storage sector is growing by “leaps and bounds,” PLS chief executive officer Dale Henderson said in an interview on Bloomberg Television with Avril Hong and Annabelle Droulers. While “there has been a pullback” in EV demand in the US as a result of government policies, the global outlook for lithium is positive, he said.
Energy storage additions are on track to notch a record in every year to 2035, after a forecast jump of 23% in 2025, according to BloombergNEF. Lithium-iron-phosphate batteries will remain the dominant chemistry, and China and the US will continue to be the largest markets, BNEF said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, demand for electric vehicles in the US is waning after President Donald Trump’s administration eliminated tax credits at the end of last month and effectively nullified fuel economy and emissions standards. General Motors Co. is incurring $1.6 billion in charges tied to its pullback from EVs, while Ford Motor Co. will buy less lithium and delay shipments from Australian producer Liontown Resources Ltd.
That comes as lithium prices lost almost 90% from a peak in 2022 because of global oversupply. They have swung wildly in the past few months amid mounting supply-side anxiety in China.
“The lithium market has been very volatile from inception,” Henderson said. That should even out over time, aided by the emergence of a more efficient spot trading mechanism and future exchanges options — which to date are “very nascent”.
“There’s actually limited opportunity to hedge, albeit more instruments are starting to emerge,” Henderson said.
PLS has a small component of spot sales to help with price discovery and sets aside a large proportion for medium and long-term offtake agreements, he said. PLS was previously known as Pilbara Minerals, but rebranded earlier this year.
