China issues draft rules to regulate booming lithium battery expansion

Thirteen major smelters proposed a reduction of 5% to 10% in planned output this year.

More threatening than oversupply in the coming years is the risk of a renewed shortage, which would send prices soaring.

This signals a shift from Nigeria's decades-old policy of exporting raw materials.

Production in February 2024 was 420,242 metric tons.

India will send two delegations next month to Chile to scout for lithium and copper resources.

The West African nation last year provided 70% of China’s imports of bauxite, which is used to produce aluminum.

China's top copper smelters have proposed to cut production by 5% to 10%, according to Reuters.

In 2023, Ottawa tightened foreign investment rules for the critical minerals sector, a year after forcing Chinese investors to sell their stakes in three Toronto-listed lithium firms.

Local residents reported a lack of clean drinking water.