At present, global enterprises continue to speed up the layout of lithium mines. As a major demand for lithium resources, Chinese enterprises have outstanding performance in the speed and scale of global lithium resources distribution, including Ningde era, Ganfeng lithium industry, Tianhua Chaojing, Zijin Mining, Tibet Everest and other companies have participated in lithium ore mergers and acquisitions.
At present, the salt lake lithium salt inventory in Qinghai continues to decline, and the upstream smelter lithium ore inventory also remains low, and shows a downward trend. On the demand side, the production and sales of new energy vehicles hit another record high, and the prosperity of the industry is rising. It is expected that the global lithium industry will continue to maintain a tight balance between supply and demand, and the upstream is bullish on lithium prices. From the point of view of supply stability and cost control, to control the mine is to control the core raw materials, while for the enterprises without low-cost lithium raw materials, the cost will be restricted by the lithium mining enterprises. With the advent of electrification in an all-round way, it is very important for Chinese companies to "go out" to buy lithium mines.
China is a big country of new energy vehicles in the world, and the production and sales of new energy vehicles have been rising since they reached a new high in June 2021. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to October 2021, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 2.558 million and 2.526 million, respectively, an increase of 1.61 times and 1.66 times compared with the same period last year. In the case of short-term global chips and rising raw material prices, new energy vehicles can grow against the trend, highlighting its high-profile demeanor.
According to Ping an Securities, global lithium demand is expected to increase from 480000 tons in 2021 to 1.48 million tons in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 32 per cent. China's lithium demand will increase from 230000 tons in 2021 to 670000 tons in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 30 per cent. According to the estimation of True Lithium Research, the total demand for lithium batteries will reach 213.5 GWhs in 2021, increase to 285.5 GWhs in 2022, and the demand for lithium iron phosphate batteries will exceed that of ternary batteries in 2022. The prospect of the lithium battery market is huge, and the scale is expected to be close to 40TWh. the golden opportunity for the development of the lithium battery industry has come.
The demand for lithium concentrate is becoming more and more white-hot, and the price of lithium ore has hit new highs one after another. On October 27, 2021, the price of lithium concentrate at Pilbara auction reached $2350 per tonne, breaking an all-time high and up 5 per cent from the second auction price. In 2021, there is a structural shortage of lithium resources, and lithium carbonate has accelerated since July last year. Since September 2021, the price of lithium carbonate has risen by an average of 10,000 / ton per week, which is evident from the shortage of lithium resources. a small amount of circulating lithium ore has become the source of goods pursued by enterprises. As the price of upstream raw materials rises, so does the price of lithium iron phosphate. According to the deployment of planned capacity, lithium demand is expected to release supply in 2023, but the current tight situation of lithium supply tends to stabilize, and lithium prices are likely to rise again due to the high demeanour of the industry.
