SHANGHAI, Sep 2 (SMM) - Suzhou TA&A Ultra Clean Technology announced on September 1 that it has signed a deal with the government of Jiang'an county, Yibin city in Sichuan province to invest approximately 2.3 billion yuan to build a 50,000 mt/year battery-grade lithium hydroxide project as part of its efforts to further expand battery-grade lithium hydroxide capacity. The project will be built in two phases. The first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022, and the second phase is scheduled to be completed before June 30, 2024.
SMM data showed that the average price of domestic battery-grade lithium hydroxide stood at 122,000 yuan/mt as of September 1, an increase of 73,000 yuan/mt or 149% from the end of last year.
SMM survey showed that spot supply of smelters has been limited recently while mainstream high-nickel battery material plants are less interested in buying from the spot market as they rely on long-term orders. Lithium hydroxide production is likely to continue to increase month-on-month in September, while domestic demand has slowed down, which may slow down the price increase.
