South Korea’s demand for key minerals is expected to jump up to nineteenfold from 2021 by 2040 due to expansion in the electric car and wind power industries, a report showed Sunday.

The demand for lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt, essential for electric car batteries, will be up by fifteenfold, twelvefold, nineteenfold and fourfold, respectively, by 2040 compared with the corresponding tally in 2021, according to the report from the Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI).

The demand for neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, needed for electric car motors, will be all up by tenfold as sales of electric cars in South Korea are expected to increase by 11 times over the same period.

The report also showed new installments of wind power facilities will likely rise by eight times by 2040 from 2022, pushing up the demand for related materials, such as neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, by 2.6 times, 3.1 times, 21.6 times and 2.7 times, respectively.

The KEEI said South Korea shou
ld work to diversify its key mineral supply chain to lower its dependence on China as part of efforts to strengthen its competitiveness in the electric vehicle and secondary battery industries.

As of 2022, South Korea had imported most nickel, manganese and cobalt supplies from China, according to the KEEI.

Source: Yonhap News Agency