[green economy series] "lithium OPEC" is coming?

Recently, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile are discussing the establishment of a similar "lithium OPEC" organization, with a function similar to that of the organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), that is, a unified quota for lithium mining according to market supply and demand, so as to maximize the economic benefits of lithium resources. According to the statistics of USGS, the lithium resource reserves of the three countries account for nearly 60% of the total global reserves, but different from the reserve status, the lithium production of the three countries is less than 30% of the global production, which may mean that the influence of "lithium OPEC" on lithium production and price is weak in the short term. China's annual output of lithium ore reaches 14000 tons, accounting for about 16% of the global output, but China's lithium ore reserves only account for about 6% of the global reserves. The huge demand for lithium metal has kept China's dependence on foreign countries at more than 70% in recent years. The rapid development of new energy vehicles and other industries will make the market demand for lithium continue to rise, and may also be affected by "lithium OPEC" in the future.