Prices are down, but should we be investing in lithium refining?

Smelt, refine, manufacture, add value.

That has long been the cry of activists in Australia as the country has lived off the relatively low margin but massive bulk commodity industries of coal and iron ore.

Yet these industries suffer from the relatively low value per tonne or expense of transporting of end products steel or electricity, and *relatively* low growth rates, militating against massive investment in lumps of additional capacity.

But the EV BVC (Battery Value Chain) is different. Explosive growth from a zero base means capex isn't a question of 'whether?' but 'where?' and 'when?'. And the high relative value and relative transportability of end products doesn't discourage their shipment.

Of course, with any massively growing industry, coming from a low base, there will be huge temporary imbalances of supply and demand - how else could an industry be configured (except through centralised planning)? But what the BBC article raises very thought-provokingly is whether Australia (and others) shouldn't be really investing in downstream - conversion of spodumene or brines to lithium carbonate, and beyond that to CAM, cells or even batteries (the argument to site close to market gets stronger though as you progress down the value chain).

What do you think? Invest in Li refining in Australia, north America or Europe, anyone?