There was a story about this three or four weeks ago. There is a temporary shortage of lithium refining capacity, taking in lithium ore from the mines and prod

There was a story about this three or four weeks ago. There is a temporary shortage of lithium refining capacity, taking in lithium ore from the mines and producing lithium carbonate /lithium oxide in the purity required for battery manufacturing. That drove up the price of refined lithium carbonate and therefore finished lithium cells and battery packs. Note the "temporary". It's fairly quick and easy to expand refining capacity, but it had been in oversupply for a long time, so people were caught napping. There may soon (2 years?) be a shortage of lithium mining capacity, but miners are jumping on the bonanza, so I don't expect that to happen.