Geopolitics and Markets Review 7th November 2022:

Lithium Price in China hit 587,500 CNY per tonne. It's up 118% year-to-date. This is due to demand increases in the transition to electric vehicles. Currently, high oil prices are contributing to increased petrol and diesel prices at the pump. The rush to EVs could also be due to government incentives to buy one, such as grants and reduced road tax. This will make the battle to emerge as a leading EV provider even tenser. And the increase in lithium used in batteries could lead to higher prices for electric vehicles. It could also lead to research into alternative materials to use in batteries, such as sodium-ion. Lithium’s biggest producers are Chile, China, Australia, and Argentina. The biggest importers are China, Japan, South Korea, and the US.

Figure 1 - Importers of Lithium Carbonates in 2020 - The Growth Lab at Harvard University. The Atlas of Economic Complexity. http://www.atlas.cid.harvard.edu.

Note: This price (587,500 CNY) is for Lithium Carbonate. A reaction between lithium carbonate and calcium hydroxide produces lithium hydroxide. Lithium hydroxide is used in batteries for EVs.

This week on Palisades Gold Radio, Dale Pinkert discussed food, along with everything else in the financial markets. Grant Williams’ interview covered a wide range of topics in the financial markets too. Both are well worth a listen. They mention locating historical patterns and events to consider more outcomes for the current events. Commodity shortages. Prices rise. The only way to bring prices back down is to increase supply. Where are we going to get increased supply from? Could this lead to changes to alternative sources for some nutrition? Such as protein. Carbon rationing. A reduction to the space provided to livestock. The reduced grain to feed livestock due to a reduced harvest in the Russian Wheat Belt. All these reasons contribute to the reduced production of meat.