Metals & Mining, Non-Ferrous
August 14, 2026
Sigma Lithium expects 2026 lithium demand to increase by 900,000 mt of LCE
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HIGHLIGHTS
Battery storage and AI drive lithium growth
Q2 revenue hits record $55 million for company
Sigma Lithium Corp. expects 2026 lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) demand to reach 2.4 million metric tons, an increase of 900,000 mt from year-end 2025 demand of 1.5 million mt, executives said on a second-quarter earnings call on Aug. 14.
"When translated into our product, lithium oxide, this implies a multiplier of eight, resulting in approximately 7 million mt of lithium oxide concentrate needed to meet 2026 demand projections," Sigma CEO Ana Cabral said.
The Brazilian company expects global lithium demand growth, driven by battery storage and AI data centers, to reach 5 million mt of lithium carbonate equivalent in 2035 and about 40 million mt of lithium oxide concentrate.
The lithium producer expects to meet approximately 2% of the anticipated global demand in 2028, producing 100,000 mt/year from the two additional plants it plans to build.
"We also plan to significantly increase incremental industrial capacity. We're going to resume construction of and potentially build plan 3 at the same time, given that we are in a very robust let market environment," Cabral said.
Sigma reported second-quarter revenue reached $55 million, the highest in its history, compared to $97 million for the first half of the year.
