Why lithium is becoming an AI infrastructure trade and an EV trade

TL;DR Summary

Lithium is starting to trade on two demand engines at once. Electric vehicles still dominate the market, but AI infrastructure is creating a second, more durable source of demand through data centre backup systems, battery energy storage and grid stabilisation. That shift changes the sector’s long-term setup. Lithium is no longer tied only to car sales and consumer sentiment. It is increasingly tied to enterprise capex, power resilience and the physical buildout behind AI.

For years, lithium was treated almost entirely as an EV commodity. The logic was simple. . .