Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) said Tuesday that lithium prices need to stay high to incentivize mining companies to produce more of the electric vehicle battery metal and propel the green energy transition.

“There’s significant supply coming on, but the demand growth is more significant,” Eric Norris, head of Albemarle’s (ALB) Energy Storage division, said during the company’s 2023 Strategic Update presentation.

The company forecasts an 800K-ton deficit in the worldwide lithium (NYSEARCA:LIT) market by the end of the decade, or ~20% of expected demand, because of the growth of electric vehicles and the time it takes to develop new lithium reserves.

Alemarle (ALB) sees global lithium demand hitting 3.7M metric tons by 2030, with the company able to supply ~60KK tons, but without expansions, executives warned of the “potential for significant deficits” by the end of the decade without new mines and processing plants.

Albemarle (ALB) guided for annual adjusted EBITDA to nearly double to $7.2B-$8.4B by 2027 from preliminary EBITDA of $3.4B-$3.5B in 2022, part of preliminary results including above-consensus Q4 adjusted earnings of $8.35-$8.75/share.