Editing Lithium (section)

=== Pricing ===
[[File:Lithium prices.webp|thumb|300px|Lithium prices]]
In 1998, the price of lithium metal was about {{nowrap|95 USD/kg}} (or US$43/[[Pound (mass)|lb]]).<ref name="ober">{{cite web |url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/450798.pdf |title=Lithium |access-date=19 August 2007 |last=Ober |first=Joyce A. |pages=77–78 |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711062102/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/450798.pdf |archive-date=11 July 2007}}</ref> After the [[2008 financial crisis]], major suppliers, such as [[Sociedad Química y Minera]] (SQM), dropped [[lithium carbonate]] pricing by 20%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sqm-announces-new-lithium-prices-62933122.html |title=SQM Announces New Lithium Prices – SANTIAGO, Chile |agency=PR Newswire |date=30 September 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530015745/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sqm-announces-new-lithium-prices-62933122.html |archive-date=30 May 2013}}</ref> Prices rose in 2012. A 2012 [[Bloomberg Businessweek|Business Week]] article outlined an [[oligopoly]] in the lithium space: "SQM, controlled by billionaire [[Julio Ponce Lerou|Julio Ponce]], is the second-largest, followed by [[Albemarle Corporation#Acquisition of Rockwood Holdings|Rockwood]], which is backed by [[Henry Kravis]]'s KKR & Co., and Philadelphia-based FMC", with [[Talison Minerals|Talison]] mentioned as the biggest producer.<ref name="Riseborough-2012" /> Global consumption may jump to 300,000 metric tons a year by 2020{{failed verification|date=March 2021}}<!-- a 2012 source cannot be used to support a 2020 claim --> from about 150,000 tons in 2012, to match the demand for lithium batteries that has been growing at about 25% a year, outpacing the 4% to 5% overall gain in lithium production.<ref name="Riseborough-2012">{{cite web |last=Riseborough |first=Jesse |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-19/ipad-boom-strains-lithium-supplies-after-prices-triple |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622183939/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-19/ipad-boom-strains-lithium-supplies-after-prices-triple |archive-date=22 June 2012 |title=IPad Boom Strains Lithium Supplies After Prices Triple |work=Bloomberg BusinessWeek |access-date=1 May 2013}}</ref>{{update after|2013}}

The price information service ISE – Institute of Rare Earths Elements and Strategic Metals – gives for various lithium substances in the average of March to August 2022 the following kilo prices stable in the course: Lithium carbonate, purity 99.5% min, from various producers between 63 and 72 EUR/kg. Lithium hydroxide monohydrate LiOH 56.5% min, China, at 66 to 72 EUR/kg; delivered South Korea – 73 EUR/kg. Lithium metal 99.9% min, delivered China – 42 EUR/kg.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://en.institut-seltene-erden.de/ |title=ISE Metal-quotes |access-date=29 September 2022 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709151623/https://en.institut-seltene-erden.de/ |url-status=live}}</ref>