Albemarle, the world’s largest producer of lithium for electric vehicle batteries, warned on Wednesday that its third quarter sales and profit will dip as automakers produce fewer EVs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The warning came after the company posted a 45% drop in second-quarter profit due in part to low prices for the white metal caused by global oversupply.
Lithium producers boosted output last year in anticipation of a demand rush from EV manufacturers going into 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic upended those plans and dented global automobile sales, effectively pausing the EV revolution.