Lithium carbonate imports more than doubled in May

Rising price of lithium hydroxide has left downstream material factories struggling.

SMM lithium team visited lithium salts plants in Jiangxi from March 2 to investigate their new projects and projects under construction. As an important area for lithium smelting, Jiangxi currently has 7 smelters with a capacity of more than 10,000 mt, 4 of which use lepidolite concentrate as a main raw material. 

Tianqi Lithium's share prices had surged from April 2020 amid development of new energy vehicles (NEVs), but dropped rapidly after the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday. 

China’s lithium carbonate imports and the average import price both increased in October, customs data showed. 

Prices of battery-grade lithium carbonate have been climbing steadily recently.

Phase-one project is designed with an annualised capacity of 15,000 mt of lithium hydroxide and 10,000 mt of lithium carbonate. Full operation of the second phase of the project is expected to bring about an output value of 3.3 billion yuan per year. 

Inventory pressure of lithium carbonate, a raw material for digital and power batteries, may continue to mount in April as Chinese lithium salt producers have not yet planned to wind down production. Elevated inventories together with limited downsides in lithium carbonate prices with support from costs, however, may trigger output cut in the second quarter. 

Prices of industrial-grade lithium carbonate eased on Monday March 30 after held firm for most of March, showed SMM assessments. Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices, however, are expected to face..

Japan’s Panasonic and PEVE, South Korea’s LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SKI were among the world’s top 10 EV battery producers in terms of shipments in 2019, according to data from SNE. The two countries are also home to many cathode materials producers.

SMM assessed industrial-grade lithium carbonate at 38,000-42,000 yuan/mt as of Thursday March 5, up 3.9% from multi-year lows of 37,000-40,000 yuan/mt.