The increasing trend of electric cars has already started to harm others. The very high demand for lithium from the automotive world has actually made the health world wary.
Because now the world of health is starting to have trouble getting lithium carbonate. Whereas lithium carbonate is very important as a medicine to treat patients with bipolar disorder.
This has already been seen in Japan where the health industry has begun to complain about the diversion of lithium availability to the automotive industry.
“Lithium is one of the main materials used in the production of electric vehicle batteries, and while it is far from scarce, limited access to the world’s underground reserves mean that demand is currently said to be greater than supply,” said the Nikkei, Tuesday (15/8/2023) This.
In fact, one of the drug manufacturers in Japan, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, has decided to no longer make Lithium Carbonate drugs. Because they are increasingly difficult to get lithium. Even if you can, the price is already very expensive.
“Buyers from the medical world may be unable to compete with industrial users,” Ichiro Fujikawa, chairman of the Japan Pharmaceutical Traders Association, told Nikkei Asia.
“Drug manufacturers have high production standards, but they don’t have large amounts of funding like automakers,” he added.
While the Drive website says, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration also feels the same way. They know the availability of lithium carbonate from July to August 2023 is starting to decrease.
They note that the price of lithium will skyrocket in 2022 as car companies and battery manufacturers scramble to get hold of lithium. Lithium is a very important material because it is used for the production of electric vehicles today and in the future.
Indonesia is also known to be starting to experience the trend of electric cars. Many new electric car brands are coming to Indonesia as seen at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show 2023 (GIIAS) which will be held August 10-20 2023.
Indonesia is also one of the countries in the world that has a very large amount of lithium. Even the Indonesian government has planned to produce three million units of lithium for electric vehicles in 2024.
