As the raw material of lithium-ion batteries, lithium carbonate plays an important role in the development of new energy field. Due to the extremely uneven distribution of lithium resources in the world, the security of supply in countries with less say would be greatly threatened if trade restrictions or other accidents occurred in large-scale exporting countries. It is of great significance to help these countries find new partners based on the existing trade topology. This study uses the link prediction method, based on the perspective of the topological structure of trade networks in various countries and trade rules, and eliminates the influence of large-scale lithium carbonate exporting countries on the lithium carbonate trade of other countries, to find potential lithium carbonate trade links among importing and small-scale exporting countries, and summarizes three trade rules: (1) in potential relationships involving two net importers, a relationship involving either China or the Netherlands is more likely to occur; (2) for all potential relationships, a relationship that actually occurred for more than two years in the period in 2009–2018 is more likely to occur in the future; and (3) potential relationships pairing a net exporter with a net importer are more likely to occur than other country combinations. The results show that over the next five to six years, Denmark and Italy, Netherlands and South Africa, Turkey and USA are most likely to have a lithium carbonate trading relationship, while Slovenia and USA, and Belgium and Thailand are the least likely to trade lithium carbonate. Through this study, we can strengthen the supply security of lithium carbonate resources in international trade, and provide international trade policy recommendations for the governments of importing countries and small-scale exporting countries.

In recent years, with the rapid development of the lithium-ion battery industry, the massive upstream consumption of mineral raw materials has led to great crises and challenges in balancing global supply and demand. A diversity of trading partners can effectively alleviate the pressure of supply and demand for raw materials; so, it is particularly important for trading countries to find suitable trading partners. This study takes nine important minerals contained in the main element raw materials of lithium-ion batteries as the research object, and the international trade data range from 2011 to 2020. The study combines complex networks and motifs and links prediction methods to predict the potential international trade relations of the nine minerals based on the actual network topology. We summarize three trade link rules as follows. (1) The predicted links have a timeliness requirement, and they generally turn into actual trade links within 3 years. (2) When looking for trading partners, trading countries tend to establish long-term and stable trade relations. (3) The existing trade relations will promote the establishment of predicted trade relations. In addition, we find that successfully predicted links will promote the formation of important motifs in the network. This study can provide a theoretical basis for trading countries to find suitable trading partners and can strengthen the safety of trading countries in the trade of the main element minerals for lithium-ion batteries.

Nickel ore sand and its concentrate are the main sources of raw nickel materials in various countries. Due to its uneven distribution throughout the world, the international trade of nickel ore sand is also unstable. Looking for potential links in the changing international nickel ore trade can help governments find potential partners, make strategic preparations in advance, and quickly find new partners when original trade relationships break down. In this paper, we build an international nickel ore trade network using a link prediction method to find potential trade relations between countries. The results show that China and Italy, China and Denmark, China and Indonesia, and China and India are most likely to establish trade relations within five years. Finally, according to the research results, suggestions regarding the international nickel ore trade are proposed.

To study the trade characteristics and important trends of leading countries in conventional energy networks, this paper uses trade data on coal, oil and natural gas based on complex network theory; constructs a comprehensive directed weighted network; and analyzes the trade relations, trade volume, betweenness centrality and trade groups of China, the United States, Russia and Saudi Arabia. The results show that import and export trade relations exhibit the characteristics of power-law distribution, but the four countries are developing toward diversified trading partners. The United States has the greatest advantage in obtaining conventional energy and has the strongest control over energy. China’s advantage in obtaining conventional energy shows a downward trend, but its control over energy is second only to the United States. Saudi Arabia has the least advantage in obtaining energy and the weakest control, and it is an energy supplier. Russia’s trading bloc is the most stable. These four countries played a leading role in their trade bloc in most years.