Market volatility, Chinese control, supply chain risk mitigation and financing emerged as some of the most prevalent themes at the 2025 Fastmarket’s Lithium Supply Battery Raw Materials (LBRM) conference in Las Vegas.
The event, which is in its 17th year, drew a crowd of roughly 1000 delegates, industry experts and analysts, to discuss the current landscape and future projections of the battery materials sector.
During his opening remarks, Fastmarkets CEO Raju Daswani highlighted the growth and maturation the battery raw materials sector has experienced.
“We meet here at an extraordinary moment, the global lithium and battery materials industry is no longer a niche … It is now central to energy security, to industrial policy and to geopolitical strategy,” he said.
— Resource Investing (@INN_Resource) June 25, 2025
Daswani then went on to set the tone for the conference by posing four key questions about the current market designed to guide attendees’ thinking throughout the event.
Decoupling vs. Interdependence: Can the US and China truly decouple their lithium and battery supply chains, or will market realities force continued interdependence?
Technology Leadership Race: Who will lead battery innovation?
Price Sustainability: How sustainable is the current lithium price environment?
Hidden Supply Chain Risks: What proactive steps can the industry take to address emerging risks like permitting delays, power constraints, community opposition, water limitations, talent shortages, and geopolitical instability in critical mining regions?
These questions framed the agenda for the four day event while also underscoring some of the key challenges and strategic considerations facing the global lithium and battery raw materials industry.
Robust growth projections
China’s dominance in the battery metals space was a central theme at the conference and explored via a variety of angels including supply and demand dynamics, growth projections and collaboration.
At the “Lithium Market Outlook 2025–2035: Navigating Demand Across EVs, Storage, and Strategic Sectors” presentation, Paul Lusty, head of battery raw materials at Fastmarkets painted a bullish picture for the future of lithium prices, despite the current challenges the market is facing.
#EV paradox? Paul Lusty of @Fastmarkets explains that EV sales are slower than expected, but still remain robust on a year-on-year basis.#Investing #ElectricVehicles #BatteryMetals pic.twitter.com/a2REfTQz86
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We’re facing headwinds, no doubt, and we’re also seeing quite a lot of negative or bearish sentiment widespread in the market, and I think at times, it’s amplified by voices that really overlooked the phenomenal levels of demand that we’re seeing in many aspects of the market,” he said.
Although prices have floundered since 2022, the Fastmarkets team is projecting a 12 percent CAGR through to 2035.
“The long term outcome looks incredibly bullish and very compelling, the fundamentals are really still very strong, and these are anchored in some very powerful, mega trends that we see developing within the global economy.”
These trends include the urgent drive for climate change mitigation, the once in a generational shift in the global energy system, and the rise of energy intensive technologies such as artificial intelligence.
China’s place in western supply
As Daswani noted in his opening remarks China’s role in the battery metal sector was a recurring topic at the conference, with several speakers and panelists weighing in.
In one of the most compelling panels “Decoding the China Playbook’, panelists recounted the country’s nearly two decade long strategy to develop a robust, vertically integrated supply chain.
Iggy Tan, chairman of Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7,OTCPink:LUVSF), told the crowd China’s dominance in the battery metals sector began with a national goal of lowering vehicle emissions in the cities.
“(The) strategy was to reduce pollution in the cities, and that started the battery revolution,” he said of the nation’s switch to electric scooters and cars.
Additionally, the decision was further supported by a long term mandate.
“With the 15 year plan, government regulations, incentives, and investment started to flow according to the plan,” said Tan. “One of the downsides with Western economies is that (the government) changes every four years, whereas in China, the plan is just updated, and you can make long term investments in this area.”
.@globallithium recounts how #China overtook #Japan’s #lithium battery production in the early 2000s.
‘It’s like Survivor — they outplayed, outwitted and outlasted,’ he said at @Fastmarkets’ ‘Decoding China Playbook’ panel. #Investing #Lithium pic.twitter.com/xagbLhBBAC
— Resource Investing (@INN_Resource) June 26, 2025
As Joe Lowry, president of Global Lithium (ASX:GL1,OTCPink:GBLRF) and widely considered ‘Mr. Lithium’, added the battery supply chain in China, was further strengthened in 2003 when then president Hu Jintao selected the battery industry among his 10 Champion Industries.
Over the two decades since the Asian nation has invested heavily up and down the supply chain.
“If it was a TV show, it would be Survivor. China, outplayed, outwitted, and outlasted their competition,” said Lowry.
Financing the future
As with most cyclical commodities once lithium prices began to fall financing and investment also declined. Although the long term demand outlook is poised to benefit from battery sector expansion and energy storage system growth, the current glut in the market has created a challenge for Western companies.
This was reiterated by SC Insights Founder and Managing Director Andy Leyland, who used a colour coded chart to explain the discrepancy.
.@andyleyland1 of @SCInsightsLLC takes the stage at @Fastmarkets to present his #lithium price rainbow chart, highlighting the discrepancy in production relative to the lithium price.#Investing #BatteryMetals pic.twitter.com/UkRVlQqB3q
— Resource Investing (@INN_Resource) June 26, 2025
Leyland noted that at current low lithium prices (around US$7,000 per ton), companies are not making final investment decisions (FIDs) for new lithium projects.
Additionally over the past 12 months, hardly any FIDs have been happening in the industry. This is because at such low price levels, most projects are not financially viable.
Producers are cutting back on capital expenditures and are unable to justify new investments. The low prices make it economically challenging for companies to move forward with new lithium production projects, effectively freezing new developments in the sector.
This sentiment was echoed at the “Unlocking Funding: Bridging the Liquidity Gap and the Battery Market” panel, where YJ Lee, director and co-fund manager at Arcane Capital Advisers offered advice for junior miners.
“There’s very little financing available. So the junior miners … have to really cut the corporate costs, keep that as low as possible. But the operations must go on. They must continue drilling. They must continue developing. Because the next up cycle, I believe, is just around the corner.”
Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.