Exportaciones de carbonato de litio de Chile disminuyen mes a mes pero aumentan interanual, con China como principal comprador

An official from the Department of Consumption Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce commented on China's consumer market in May 2026. As China's consumer market undergoes structural optimization and upgrading, household consumption is shifting from being dominated by goods to a balance of goods and services. From January to May, total retail sales of social consumer goods and services increased by 2.8% YoY (the same hereinafter); total retail sales of consumer goods reached RMB 20.6 trillion, up 1.4%, of which retail sales of consumer goods excluding automobiles grew 2.7%; and service retail sales rose 5.4%. In May, the domestic retail penetration rate of NEVs reached 62.9%, setting a new record high. Big data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that from January to May, sales of smart glasses on key platforms grew 2.8 times, sales of handheld photography equipment increased 24.2%, sales of smart blood glucose meters rose 14.7%, and sales of organic food were up 3.6%.

En mayo de 2026, las importaciones chinas de cobalto en bruto fueron de aproximadamente 673 tm, un 50 % menos intermensual y un 3 % más interanual; las exportaciones de cobalto en bruto fueron de aproximadamente 370 tm, un 70 % más intermensual y un 88 % menos interanual.

En mayo de 2026, las importaciones chinas de productos intermedios de hidrometalurgia de cobalto fueron aproximadamente 2.584 toneladas métricas en contenido físico, con un aumento intermensual del 107% y una caída interanual del 95%, de los cuales las importaciones procedentes de la RDC fueron aproximadamente 2.066 toneladas métricas en contenido físico, con un aumento intermensual del 119% y una caída interanual del 96%.