ASX lithium shares are rising strongly on Friday after solid gains for lithium prices this week.
Four of the fastest rising 10 stocks on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) today are lithium shares.
The best performer is diversified miner Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN), up 6.1% to $62.97 per share.
Next is lithium and nickel producer IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO), up 5.7% to $9.23 per share.
The Liontown Ltd (ASX: LTR) share price is 5.3% higher on Friday at $2.18.
The market's largest pure-play lithium company, PLS Group Ltd (ASX: PLS), cracked a new record at $6.14 today.
The PLS Group share price is currently $6.01, up 5.3%.
Among the smaller players outside the ASX 200, Elevra Lithium Ltd (ASX: ELV) shares hit a 52-week high of $10.39.
The Elevra Lithium share price is currently $10.31, up 11.9%.
Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) shares are up 9.4% to 37 cents apiece.
Lake Resources NL (ASX: LKE) shares are 7.6% higher at 9.9 cents.
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What's driving ASX lithium shares higher?
Experts say the Iran war and ensuing global oil shock are reminding us of the value of electric vehicles (EV).
The lithium carbonate price has risen 9% this week and is up 43% year to date (YTD), according to Trading Economics data.
Analysts at Trading Economics say lithium prices are rising on a bullish future outlook.
Chinese EV manufacturer BYD announced it expects to sell more EVs this year due to the oil shock.
BYD has raised its 2026 sales forecast to 1.5 million units, up from the January estimate of 1.3 million units.
The analysts said:
The surge in crude oil and product prices since the start of March supported the outlook for larger economies to favor new energy vehicles, which use batteries that take lithium as a major input.
Demand also remained supported by Chinese investment in power infrastructure, recently exemplified by the announcement of higher power storage spending.
This was combined with Beijing stating it would double national EV charging capacity to 180 gigawatts by 2027, supporting lithium-rich energy storage systems.
In the meantime, Zimbabwe suspended exports of lithium concentrates and other raw materials to stimulate refining in the country.
Oil shock a tailwind for lithium prices
Lithium prices were already rebounding from a painful two-year downward spiral before the war in Iran began.
We have seen a rapid turnaround in lithium prices from mid-2025.
Supply/demand rebalanced after a long period of oversupply last year.
We also saw the impact of the green energy transition finally bleed through to markets in 2025.
Other commodity prices joined lithium in an upward surge in 2025 as the world began building new power infrastructure at scale.
The lithium carbonate price lifted to a two-year high of about US$26,200 per tonne in January.
It endured a short, sharp fall to just below US$20,000 in early February as part of a broader metals and minerals rout.
Today, the lithium carbonate price is US$24,850, representing a 43% year-to-date gain.
Lithium spodumene is up from about US$600 per tonne in June 2025 to US$2,415 per tonne today.
