China remains the powerhouse in lithium-ion battery manufacturing
In 2022, China was the world's largest lithium-ion battery producer with 76% of global operational capacity. It will probably remain there in the coming decade.
Source: IEA — Lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity, 2022-2030. Licence: CC BY 4.0
I don't need to mention how important batteries have become in our everyday lives. To put it mildly, lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized electronic devices and electric mobility. As IEA states, they have yet to play a massive role in what they call the next energy transition.
The world is charging up: lithium-ion manufacturing capacity, 2022-2030
Each cell is a year. The charge level is total global lithium-ion manufacturing capacity, and the colour bands show how it splits by region.
According to them, China will remain the top dog well into the next decade, with an almost quadruple growth by 2030.
As other parts of the world catch up, China's projected share is expected to fall to around 68% of global capacity (4.65 out of 6.79 Terawatt-Hour).
This doesn't mean other countries won't see any growth, but compared to China, they will barely make a dent. The fact China is also a leader in extraction and processing of critical minerals will probably help keep the status quo.
At the same time, the United States is expected to grow almost ninefold, while Europe as a whole will grow around six times. When that happens the US will take second place, eclipsing Europe's manufacturing output.
The rest of the world will marginally improve.
Now, this will hold true if these projects actually get built. Since the tech is advancing rapidly we might see the industry moving away from lithium-ion batteries in the coming decades. That is, if sodium-ion batteries manage to live up to the expectations.