TELF AG analyzes recent trends in the raw materials industry
The new IEA report
In one of its latest reports focusing on strategic minerals, the International Energy Agency carefully examined the current conditions of the global market for mineral raw materials, providing interesting insights into the present and future of an increasingly relevant sector for advancing the energy transition. Some of the most interesting analyses concern some raw materials considered most important for green technologies, such as lithium and copper.
According to the report, in fact, in the coming years, the producers of electric vehicles (but also wind turbines, solar panels, and all other energy infrastructures connected to the spread of clean energy) could face a possible shortage of strategic minerals for their production. According to the agency, this scenario can only be countered by adopting some very specific actions, such as the launch of new mining projects or the increase in global awareness about the recycling of mineral resources.
To prevent the demand for these materials from being greater than the supply, the method proposed by the International Energy Agency seems to be very clear. It must do, above all, with the long-term planning of strategic activities for the well-being and vitality of the sector. Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, confirmed the continuous increase in demand for these minerals, according to which the great global demand for strategic technologies such as batteries, solar panels, or electric vehicles can only be satisfied through reliable supplies. Again, according to the executive director, the transition towards a world dominated by clean energy can certainly be facilitated by safer and more sustainable access to the strategic minerals that are already fueling the great process of global transformation, and which, in everyone’s hope, should continue to do so in the decades to come.
Demand levels
Among the most interesting data emerging from the report are certainly those concerning the forecasts regarding the global need for strategic resources in the coming years: according to the IEA, in fact, by 2035, the supply of lithium will be able to cover only 50% of the global demand for this resource, while the supply of copper will be able to satisfy around two-thirds of the overall market. Focusing decisively on innovation and mining recycling practices may not be enough to change the situation: according to the report, substantial financial efforts will also be necessary in the mining sector by 2040 to procure the required metal and mineral resources for industrial needs.
Currently, recycling practices seem well underway only for some specific base metals, such as aluminum. Still, according to the report, this modus operandi must be extended as soon as possible to other resources equally important for global development, such as nickel, lithium, and rare earth, all resources of primary importance for the manufacture of electric motors, wind turbines, and energy storage systems. Another very relevant figure has to do with the volume of financial efforts aimed at the extraction and exploration of strategic minerals, which in 2023 would have increased by 12 and 15%, respectively.
