Supply of industrial-grade lithium carbonate has begun to decline since October, while demand for LFP and LMO has increased rapidly, resulting in supply deficit and lifting its prices significantly. Chinese importers have signed large volume of orders, but imported cargoes will not arrive until two months.

On November 2, the highly-anticipated Development Plan for the New Energy Vehicle Industry (2021-2035) was unveiled, which was not only a good news for the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry, but also a boost to cobalt demand.

Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed that 2.33 million and 2.3 million automobiles were produced and sold, respectively, in China last month.

According to statistics from the United States Geological Survey in 2015, the world's proven land cobalt resources were about 25 million mt, with reserves of 7.2 million mt. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Australia and Cuba accounted for 68% of the global cobalt reserves. Congo (Gold) is the country with the most abundant cobalt reserves. As of 2014, cobalt reserves in Congo stood at 3.4 million mt, accounting for more than 50% of the world’s total.

China's installed capacity of batteries to power electric vehicles climbed 29.5% from a month ago to 3.6GWh in April, following a surge of 363.2% in the month of March, showed data from the China Automobile Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance, suggesting the country’s EV sector continues to recover from the fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

There have been more than 15,000 charging piles in the province.

Prices of ternary materials and precursors in China will see further downside risk before May as inventories continued to pile up, driven by slowed or delayed purchases by downstream producers of power batteries amid falling orders. 

The coronavirus crisis is providing Chinese manufacturers of electric vehicles and EV batteries with more time to brace for competition from foreign rivals, as factories outside China are shuttered and Beijing would extend subsidies for new energy vehicles to 2022. The State Council, China’s cabinet, on Tuesday announced the two-year extension, among other measures, aimed at reviving its car market which has been hit hard by the pandemic outbreak and slumping demand. Originally, the subsidies were to be terminated at the end of this year.

Prices of prebaked anode in China, an essential material used in aluminium smelting, will face further downside risks after April as a negative impact on demand from the COVID-19 outbreak continues to weigh on prebaked anode profits.

China’s nickel ore imports from the Philippines, one of the major sources of ore supply, could be badly hit in April as the Philippines has suspended all mining operations in its nickel mining hub...