The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price is making a comeback today.
After recording a 3.16% loss at Wednesday's market close, shares in the emerging lithium producer are up 3.49% to $4.75.
This comes as the broader ASX recovers from yesterday's nasty $60 billion sell-off following the latest inflation numbers from the US.
Let's take a look at what's driving Pilbara Minerals shares higher on Thursday.
Why is the Pilbara Minerals share price up and away today?
Despite the company not making any announcements today, investors are continuing to drive up the Pilbara Minerals share price.
The rampant demand for lithium has created a widening supply gap that lithium and battery metal producers can't keep up with.
Evidently, this has led investors to buy up shares in Pilbara Minerals and other lithium companies.
A report by the IEA projects that demand will grow by more than 40 times over the next two decades. Furthermore, graphite, cobalt and nickel are expected to follow, with demand accelerating to about 20-25 times.
The price of lithium carbonate has rocketed 240% year-on-year, which bodes well for Pilbara Minerals.
The company announced that FY23 production will ramp up to 580,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt). This represents around a 50% increase compared to the 377,902 dmt achieved in FY22.
The S&P/ASX 200 Materials (ASX: XMJ) sector is also up 6.8% in the past week and could go higher given the positive outlook on the lithium industry.
About the Pilbara Minerals share price
Pilbara Minerals shares have raced 95% higher since this time last year.
It's worth noting that the company's share price has equalled its all-time high of $4.79 today before slightly retracing.
Pilbara Minerals presides a market capitalisation of approximately $13.7 billion and has 2.98 billion shares on its books.
