Exclusive: SMM’s lithium battery Qinhai team field trip - Jin Kunlun Lithium Industry Co., Ltd.

SHANGHAI, Jul 26 (SMM) - The lithium battery industry is booming in 2021. The new energy industry is rising rapidly under the background of stimulus policies and the global electrification trend, driving the entire industry chain into a stage of vigorous development.

As one of the most important basic raw materials for new energy vehicles, lithium resources saw short supply and price increase at the end of 2020 and stable prices amid recovering supply in Q2 2021. The supply of lithium resources has become an important influencing factor for the future development of new energy. How will the customer base in the industry chain, including downstream precursors, materials, batteries, automobiles, and upstream nickel, cobalt and lithium raw material manufacturers, balance the increase in production and the supply of raw materials?

SMM has integrated the upstream and downstream enterprises in the lithium battery industry chain and conducted on-site surveys on lithium battery related companies.  

SMM and the delegation group that is made up of lithium battery downstream companies have just come back from the investigation trip to Hunan, which is already very productive. Next, the delegation group went to Qinghai to visit industry veterans and conduct on-site surveys on the production of Chinese lithium battery industry raw material enterprises, and seek in-depth cooperation and create more effective communication.

From July 19 to 23, SMM New Energy Division Director Wang Tian and marketing consultant Yu Lei led the SMM staff and members of the delegation to visit raw material enterprises of lithium battery industry in Qinghai, in order to seek more in-depth cooperation.

On the afternoon of July 20, SMM and the delegation group arrived at the third stop of the survey: Jin Kunlun Lithium Co., Ltd.

About Jin Kunlun Lithium Co., Ltd

Jin Kunlun Lithium gave a detailed introduction of its business development.

Jin Kunlun Lithium was established on January 17, 2017 and is located in the north side of Hanhaihai Road, Qinghai Golmud Kunlun Economic and Technological Development Zone Kunlun Key Industrial Base, covering an area of 1,100 mu. It is jointly funded and constructed by Dachaidan Dahua Chemical and Golmud Development and Construction Investment, with a registered capital of 320 million yuan. Its main products are lithium metal, lithium carbonate, lithium chloride and lithium-magnesium alloy.

It actively responds to the national call to vigorously develop the new energy industry that integrates development, production and sales. Jin Kunlun Lithium has always put the human resources strategy in the first place with a focus on improving its technical level; more importantly, it is enhancing product brand awareness through the implementation of brand strategy. It also actively grasps market trends and develops flexible production and sales strategies, which in in line with market supply and demand scenario. And in order to answer the different needs in the domestic and international markets, the company has established long-term cooperation with customers and agencies, and actively carried out strategic cooperation with big customers.

Factory Tour

SMM and the delegation group visited the factory of Jin Kunlun Lithium to get a more in-depth understanding of the company's production capacity.

The commissioning of Dahua Chemical and Xinghua Lithium Salt have provided Jin Kunlun Lithium with solid resource support. The Qaidam economic cycle and new energy industry chain has taken shape and undertakes great development potential.

Technology Exchange

SMM and lithium downstream business representatives have conducted in-depth exchanges on Jin Kunlun Lithium’s core competitiveness and future development plans.

Jin Kunlun Lithium said the reason why it produces lithium metal is because it has the highest added value throughout the whole salt lake industry chain. Prices of lithium metal has reached around 600,000 yuan/mt recently. It takes approximately 45 days to process raw materials into lithium metal, and the price adjustment mechanism is based on the price of lithium salt. The company plans to produce more than 1,000 mt of lithium metal this year. It is currently in full production and sales, and exports will gradually increase.

Jin Kunlun Lithium said there are currently 11 companies worldwide that produce lithium metal, including 8 companies in China and 3 foreign producers (Albemarle, Rosatom, and FMC). The production of metal lithium needs to be completed in a high vacuum, low oxygen and low water environment, and requires relatively low humidity, making Qinghai very suitable for producing lithium metal.

Jin Kunlun Lithium said that 28.13% of its stake has been acquired by EVE Energy and the latter is also holding 34% of Dahua Chemical. Xinghua Lithium Industry has not yet been acquired. However, Jin Kunlun Lithium does not rule out the possibility that more of its stake might be acquired by EVE Energy in the future.

The Group Photo

At the end of the tour visit, the delegation group and Jin Kunlun Lithium took a group photo as the visit has brought deeper cooperation and friendship and on the basis of which, there will be deeper exchanges and cooperation in the future.

Through this visit, SMM and the delegation group have gained a deeper understanding of the products, technologies, and company development of Jin Kunlun Lithium, as well as the market status, development trends, and problems of the lithium industry. SMM will continue to deepen cooperation with major companies to achieve complementary advantages and jointly promote the development of China’s lithium industry.

Special thanks to: Jiangxi Longente Environmental Protection Equipment Co., Ltd., Binteer Control Equipment Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Shangtuo Environmental Technology Co., Ltd., Xiangtan Huibo Centrifuge Co., Ltd., and Zhejiang Dongou Filter Manufacturing Co., Ltd.