Lithium Auction Price of $5,955/mt Hitting New Record High, A Global Demand Shortfall of around 50% May Appear

Australian lithium miner Pilbara auctioned lithium concentrate for the fifth time on the BMX platform, eventually selling for $5,955/mt, hitting another record high. This auction price has increased by 376.4% from the first auction price in July 2021.

The latest figures from the International Energy Agency show that by 2030 there will be a global demand shortfall of around 50% for lithium from existing and ongoing lithium production projects alone. Lithium concentrate auctions of Pilbara have been a bellwether for global lithium concentrate price trends, the Agency said. With limited increases in global lithium resources in 2022, the prices of overseas imported lithium concentrates and lithium salts have risen significantly, and having control of upstream resources is particularly important in the current and future competition in the global industry chain. In the long term, the lithium mine is the highest quality asset in the electric vehicle and energy storage industry chain and will continue to enjoy high growth and high earnings.

According to CaiLianPress, among the relevant listed companies:

Sinomine Resource Group completed the acquisition of the Bikita lithium mine in Zimbabwe in May 2022 and the Company is expected to have lithium salt production capacity of 60,000 mt of lithium carbonate equivalent by the end of 2023.

Tianqi Lithium currently has a lithium concentrate production capacity of 1.34 million mt/year, which will be expanded to 1.62 million mt in 2022, with over 2.5 million mt of production capacity under construction and planning.