Lithium: Movement

Carbonate flows to China; hydroxide flows out

What this tab covers How it flows between countries: the largest bilateral trade routes drawn on a world map, 2024 UN Comtrade export and import values with the top exporters and importers by share, plus shipping routes, chokepoints and trade restrictions.

Comtrade shows two separate flows in 2024. Lithium carbonate (HS 283691) exports were worth about $3.1 billion, 75.3% from Chile and 13.1% from Argentina; China took 68.9% of imports and South Korea 12.2%. Lithium hydroxide (HS 282520) runs the other way: China supplied 80.1% of $2.8 billion of exports, mostly to South Korea (62.6%) and Japan (24.3%). So brine carbonate feeds Chinese converters, and Chinese hydroxide feeds Korean and Japanese cathode makers. Australian spodumene concentrate, a separate HS line, also goes mainly to China. Zimbabwe banned raw lithium ore exports in 2022 to force local processing.

Main trade routes, 2024

Chart: World map of the largest trade flows

Exporter (size = share of world exports) Importer (share of world imports) Largest bilateral flows (width = value) Shipping chokepoint UN Comtrade 2024, reported exports by the top four exporters of each traded form to their partners (US$). Bubbles: shares of reported world exports and imports for the main traded form. Hover a line or circle for values.

Lithium carbonate · HS 283691

World exports 2024 $3.09 bn sum of 40 reporting countries World imports 2024 $3.96 bn sum of 40 reporting countries Top exporters, share of value Chile 75.3% Argentina 13.1% South Korea 2.5% Netherlands 2.4% China 2% Germany 1.7% Top importers, share of value China 68.9% South Korea 12.2% Japan 6.1% United States 5.1% Netherlands 2.8% Germany 1%

Lithium hydroxide · HS 282520

World exports 2024 $2.77 bn sum of 40 reporting countries World imports 2024 $2.57 bn sum of 40 reporting countries Top exporters, share of value China 80.1% Chile 7.1% United States 6.1% South Korea 1.7% Netherlands 1.6% Australia 1.3% Top importers, share of value South Korea 62.6% Japan 24.3% China 4.9% Sweden 2% Poland 1.1% India 0.9% UN Comtrade, reporter declarations to the world, US$. Exports and imports are reported separately, so totals differ. Re-exporting hubs (Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, UAE) can appear large.