Australia and Chile ranked as the largest exporters of lithium ore and brine in 2022, according to UNCTAD.

Lithium is a soft silvery metal with the lowest density of all metals. 

It is not found as a metal in nature, but is found in the form of hard rocks or in brine deposits as lithium chloride salts. 

Although it is found in many rocks and in various natural brines, commercial mining of lithium is only possible in a few deposits with high concentrations that make mining economically viable.

Lithium ore or brine is used to manufacture lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate, which are essential for producing battery cathodes.

At the extraction stage, Australia and Chile account for more than 79% of lithium ore and brine exports, and China imports more than 73% of the lithium traded worldwide. 

Lithium brine

Australia, the world’s largest exporter of spodumene (lithium ore), had relatively little lithium hydroxide refining capacity in 2022. 

According to UNCTAD, the country plans to reach about 10% of global lithium refining capacity by 2024.

Chile, the largest exporter of lithium brine, has refining capacity and is a major exporter of lithium hydroxide. 

Lithium mining is dominated by Chilean, Chinese, U.S. and Australian companies, which together control 53% of global lithium production.

China, which accounts for 67% of world exports of lithium oxide and hydroxide at the processing stage, appears to maintain lithium-based battery materials for the domestic manufacture of battery packs. 

Although China’s export of battery materials to the world is small, it imports these products from the Republic of Korea and the United States. 

China then exports battery packs to countries that are major exporters of electric vehicles, including the United States and Germany.