China Lithium Battery Raw Material Prices Rocket since Early 2015

SHANGHAI, Mar. 23 (SMM) – The prices of lithium carbonate in China, raw materials for lithium batteries, have accumulatively surged over 300% from 40,000 yuan per tonne early 2015 to 120,000 yuan per tonne in January 2016, finance.sina.com reported.

Heading into 2016, lithium carbonate prices have increased by 23% accumulatively. What’s worse, parts of lithium battery raw material suppliers and producers decided to hike prices by another 10% recently, the media added.

Strong demand from downstream buyers tightens lithium carbonate supply in Chinese market, which should be cited as a key reason for the surge in lithium carbonate prices.

The bloom of new energy car market bolsters the whole lithium battery industry chain, but continuous price rises in raw materials and narrowing net margin make lithium battery producers face tough time. Some lithium battery producers have to suspend operation, hurt by shortage of raw materials.

There were 42 proven lithium mines in China as of the end of 2008 with lithium reserves at 2.41 million tonnes. High-quality lithium resources are mainly located in Tibet but the prospecting progress is rather slow.  

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