Jerry Masters on commodity pricing
From Lithium supply-demand imbalance stays like it is for an extended period, says Albemarle CEO · · CNBCTelevision
“Lithium is a pretty small part of an EV cost overall. I can't predict what lithium prices are going to do — we've been on a wild ride for the last ten years around that demand is pushing, it's gotten tight, they've gone up.”
On , Jerry Masters, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer at Albemarle Corporation, spoke about commodity pricing during Lithium supply-demand imbalance stays like it is for an extended period, says Albemarle CEO on CNBCTelevision.
About Jerry Masters
Albemarle CEO Kent Masters has discussed the company’s strategy for meeting rising lithium demand, driven by electric vehicle growth. In January 2023, Masters said the company expects volume growth even in a recession, driven by EV adoption, and that it forecasts lithium prices remaining relatively flat. He stated that the EV market is growing and that the transition is happening consistently, though at different levels in different regions. Masters noted that Albemarle has a portfolio of projects and may face challenges in some but can deliver on others, aiming for the middle to end of its production range. In October 2022, Masters said the company is investing globally in Chile, Australia, and China, and is beginning to invest in the U.S. He described plans to build a facility in the Southeast to convert lithium from the ground into lithium salts for EV batteries, with the full supply chain in the U.S. Masters stated that the company has been working on permit data for a year and, if things go as anticipated, expects to get material from these facilities by early 2027. He said lithium is a small part of an EV’s overall cost and that he cannot predict prices, but that the supply-demand imbalance is likely to persist for an extended period.