According to a recent report by Allied Market Research, the global lithium ion battery market is expected to reach US$46.21 billion by 2022 and at a CAGR of 10.8%. The increasing adoption of rechargeable products such as portable devices and electric vehicles are primary drivers for the market.
Currently, portable devices control majority of the lithium ion market share, but in the coming years, electric vehicles are expected to be the biggest market driver. The popularity of electric vehicles is growing due to its reduced environmental impact, which led governments to aggressively encourage developments in the industry and companies to invest in R&D companies such as Cameo Resources Corp., Albemarle Corp., Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A., FMC Corp., Panasonic Corp.
As demand for lithium ion batteries increases, the components of the batteries will also increase heavily. Such batteries are mainly comprised of lithium and cobalt, which is also expected to see an increase in demand during the transitional phase into electric vehicles. Wood Mackenzie analysts forecast cobalt demand to outpace lithium growth. Cobalt demand has seen a substantial increase as prices from 2016 to 2017 doubled, and in February prices were up 133% yr/yr.