China's battery output for grid storage jumped 55% year-over-year in May, and BMI now projects global storage capacity will nearly quadruple by 2035. It's a reminder that lithium's next chapter may be written by the grid as much as by EVs.

Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices roughly tripled between May 2025 and May 2026, and industry leaders speaking at the Fastmarkets Global Lithium, Battery & Critical Materials conference say this rebound looks different from past boom-and-bust cycles.

New analysis from GlobalData shows global lithium output jumped nearly 20% in 2025 to 338,300 tonnes and is on track to grow another 15% in 2026, reaching 389,100 tonnes.

After a prolonged downturn, lithium prices have turned a corner. Battery-grade lithium carbonate climbed from roughly US$8 per kilogram in May 2025 to more than US$25 per kilogram by May 2026, as demand outpaced new supply coming online.

The gigafactory buildout underway right now makes it concrete: more than 30 battery cell and pack production facilities are under construction or in advanced planning across the United States and Canada, with total operating capacity expected to reach 800 to 1,000 gigawatt-hours by 2030 — up from roughly 120 gigawatt-hours in 2025.

Canada's critical minerals diplomacy kept pace with its domestic policy this year. In June, Canada and the Republic of Korea agreed to develop a joint plan for critical minerals stockpiling by the end of 2026, building on an existing memorandum of understanding covering critical mineral supply chains, clean energy transition, and energy security.

A new Wood Mackenzie analysis warns that global lithium demand could reach 13 million tonnes by 2050 under an aggressive clean-energy scenario.

The federal government used this year's PDAC Convention to make its largest critical minerals funding push to date. The Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced more than $3.6 billion in new programs.

ExxonMobil and Chevron are both developing direct lithium extraction projects on the Smackover Formation, pumping lithium-rich brine from underground and using DLE to strip out the metal — the same basic approach NeoLithica is applying to Alberta's Leduc Formation.