Since the beginning of this year, new energy has become the darling of the market. Lithium carbonate, the raw material for new energy batteries, has been very popular, and the price has continued to rise. As of November 15, the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was 195,000 yuan/ton, while it was less than 95,000 yuan/ton three months ago. Year-to-date, the increase in lithium carbonate has exceeded 230%.
The price of lithium carbonate has more than tripled during the year, and the supply of lithium resources exceeds demand
In a lithium carbonate trading company in Nantong, Jiangsu, general manager Zong Wei is discussing the next sales strategy with his colleagues. Zong Wei told reporters that since August, the price of lithium carbonate, a raw material for new energy batteries, has been rising. Many downstream processing companies have low raw material inventories and urgent demand, and there may even be cases where goods are shipped directly without going through warehouse turnover.
The price of this raw material has increased by more than 230% in less than a year! The cost of building a car directly rises by 3,000 yuan
Zong Wei, general manager of Jiangsu Nantong Yuehua New Materials Co., Ltd.: It may take a week or even longer for us to talk about business before, but in August this year, because the price is constantly changing, the negotiation failed in the morning, and the price may have risen by 500 yuan in the afternoon. One ton. At that time, everyone said that as long as they had the goods, they should get them in their hands as soon as possible, so they felt safer.
Zong Wei told reporters that in the first half of the year, lithium carbonate has already ushered in a round of rising prices, but since August, the price has suddenly doubled. This caused many dealers in the market to start hoarding goods at that time, which further boosted the price of lithium carbonate.
In a lithium iron phosphate production enterprise in Xinyu, Jiangxi, all production lines are operating at full capacity. The person in charge told reporters that lithium iron phosphate is the main raw material for lithium batteries, which is processed from lithium carbonate.
The price of this raw material has increased by more than 230% in less than a year! The cost of building a car directly rises by 3,000 yuan
Shen Huaiguo, Chairman of Jiangxi Zhili Technology Co., Ltd.: At present, our production capacity is more than 1,300 tons of lithium iron phosphate per month, which is equivalent to 15,000 tons per year. Last year we were just an old workshop, with a production capacity of only about 2,000 tons a year. Compared with last year, this year should have increased six or seven times, which is a very big leap.
At present, whether it is lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide or lithium iron phosphate, the raw materials for these lithium batteries are in short supply, mainly because of the rapid growth of the new energy vehicle market.
The price of this raw material has increased by more than 230% in less than a year! The cost of building a car directly rises by 3,000 yuan
Wang Qi, chief analyst of all non-ferrous metals industry at Guosheng Securities Research: From a demand side perspective, the overall new energy industry has developed very fast this year. The production and sales volume disclosed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology last year should be around 1.3 million vehicles. . As of September this year, the scale of production and sales across the country has exceeded 2 million vehicles this year. First of all, the rapid increase on the demand side is one of the core factors for this round of lithium salt price increases.
Industry insiders told reporters that the price of lithium carbonate soared, the core is the shortage of upstream lithium resources. Although China's lithium resources rank fourth in the world, they mainly exist in the form of salt lakes. The salt lakes are mainly located in Qinghai, Tibet and other places, with high altitude and inconvenient transportation, requiring complicated processes to extract lithium.
The price of this raw material has increased by more than 230% in less than a year! The cost of building a car directly rises by 3,000 yuan
At the time of supply shortage, foreign lithium concentrates and salt lakes are the most important sources of supply in the industry chain, accounting for nearly 70% of the domestic supply of lithium resources.
The price of this raw material has increased by more than 230% in less than a year! The cost of building a car directly rises by 3,000 yuan
On October 26, Pilbara, Australia's main lithium mining company, completed the third auction of lithium concentrate. The auction price has doubled compared with the first time, reaching US$2,350/ton, a record high.
The price of this raw material has increased by more than 230% in less than a year! The cost of building a car directly rises by 3,000 yuan
Ma Zengguang, head of marketing and sales at Galaxy Resources Co., Ltd.: The auction of lithium mines has indeed pushed up the spot price of lithium mines. The spot price of lithium concentrate is equivalent to about US$400 per ton to US$600 and US$800. Now it is basically more than US$1,500. Therefore, from the perspective of industry stability, we think we may need to be more rational in terms of prices.
High profits for upstream companies, low profits for downstream battery companies
Capital scrambles to deploy overseas lithium mines
Raw materials are tight and lithium salt products are in short supply. What impact will the rise in the price of lithium products such as lithium carbonate and other lithium products have on downstream industries? How do downstream companies deal with this surge in raw materials?
The price of this raw material has increased by more than 230% in less than a year! The cost of building a car directly rises by 3,000 yuan
In a lithium salt production enterprise in Xinyu, Jiangxi, the warehouse was filled with a large amount of imported spodumene. As the warehouse was full, many of them were still stacked in the open air in the factory. The staff told reporters that these batches of spodumene were all snapped up before the price of lithium ore soared in August.
The reporter learned that due to the strong downstream demand, the products are basically out of stock, and the company's current profit situation is very impressive.
However, downstream battery manufacturers are under great pressure, not only the price of raw material lithium salt has soared to 200,000 yuan per ton, but the prices of other raw materials have also risen to varying degrees.
The price of this raw material has increased by more than 230% in less than a year! The cost of building a car directly rises by 3,000 yuan
Li Liangbin, Chairman of Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Industry Co., Ltd.: Since August, various components of electronic materials, battery positive, negative, electrolyte, and copper foil have been rising, which has led to a substantial increase in the gross profit of the entire industry. Decline.
Industry insiders told reporters that the current cost pressure caused by rising raw materials is still between battery companies and vehicle manufacturers for the time being. The recent financial reports released by Yiwei Lithium Energy, Guoxuan High-Tech, Xinwangda and Penghui Energy show that the gross profit margins of the four battery companies in the third quarter have all experienced a month-on-month decline.
The price of this raw material has increased by more than 230% in less than a year! The cost of building a car directly rises by 3,000 yuan
Wang Qi, chief analyst of all non-ferrous metals industry at Guosheng Securities Research: We look at the price increase range of lithium salt from 100,000 to 200,000 yuan per ton, one kilogram is about 100 yuan, which means the whole vehicle The rise of the raw material lithium salt is about 3,000 yuan.
Lithium carbonate and other lithium salts are highly dependent on imported lithium ore and cannot be changed in a short time. Therefore, many downstream battery companies also choose to purchase lithium ore overseas to control the cost of raw materials. In November, the lithium battery manufacturer Ningde Times and Ganfeng Lithium competed overseas for the Canadian Millennium Lithium Company.
The price of this raw material has increased by more than 230% in less than a year! The cost of building a car directly rises by 3,000 yuan
Industry insiders believe that Chinese companies buying large amounts of lithium ore overseas are mainly to ensure that future prices are relatively stable and to have more voice in the industry.
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