The rise of Albemarle, the world’s largest lithium producer

Demand for lithium, a key component for electric vehicle batteries, is expected to surge, from 500,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate in 2021 to three to four million metric tons in less than a decade, according to McKinsey & Company.

Albemarle, the world’s top producer of this critical metal and the operator of mines in Australia, Chile and the U.S., says it plans to bring another domestic lithium mine online by 2027 — Kings Mountain…