The “Oil Of The 21st Century” Is On The Verge Of Taking Off By Nathan Slaughter
I’m talking about lithium, the battery maker’s best friend. You probably have some of this metal within arm’s reach of you. If you own an iPod or iPad, you definitely do.
Lithium is the central ingredient used to manufacture lithium-ion batteries.
Just within the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) family, lithium batteries are used to power iPads, iPods and iPhones. And the MacBook Pro line of laptops uses
advanced lithium-polymer batteries that are ultra-slim and capable of running 10 hours on a single charge.
All told, the global production of handheld lithium batteries
rose 27% last year to 3.9 billion units. And this year, the total is expected to climb to 4.5 billion units.
Now, you may be thinking lithium’s already seen its hey-day. After all, Apple can only sell so many more iPhones and iPads. The developed world has been exposed to high-tech consumer electronics for a few years now.
But electronic gadgets are just one of the sources of demand for lithium.
Here’s what really excites me: The average cell phone contains just one-tenth of an ounce of lithium; the average laptop computer about one ounce.
By contrast,
a plug-in hybrid car, which runs on gasoline and electricity, will need 20 pounds of lithium materials. That’s 320 times more than a laptop and 3,200 times more than a phone.
That’s why I call it the oil of the 21st century. Before long it is going to power hundreds of thousands of vehicles across the globe.
Let me explain…
Data shows that expansion into hybrid and electric cars will be the biggest demand driver for lithium. The global lithium-ion transportation battery industry will soar more than 800%, from revenue of $878 million in 2010 to $8 billion by 2015, according to market-research and consulting firm Pike Research.
These are some big numbers. Anytime you see revenue measured in millions moving to revenue in the billions, something big is happening…
Source: Yolo Hub
http://www.yolohub.com/trading/the-oil- ... taking-off
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