For lithium battery upstream enterprises, the sunshine this spring is particularly bright. Driven by the demand for new energy electric vehicles and the significant increase in the demand for cathode materials, especially lithium iron phosphate, a number of lithium battery upstream companies, including Ganfeng Lithium Co.Ltd(002460) , Guangzhou Tinci Materials Technology Co.Ltd(002709) and Guangzhou Tinci Materials Technology Co.Ltd(002709) have handed over a bright business data report.
Tianqi Lithium Corporation(002466) 3 the latest disclosure on the evening of March 15 shows that from January to February this year, the company’s lithium concentrate output increased by about 39% year-on-year, the sales volume increased by about 56% year-on-year, the operating revenue of lithium concentrate is expected to increase by about 366% year-on-year, and the operating revenue of lithium compounds and their derivatives increased by about 492% year-on-year.
“The performance of lithium battery upstream companies should be good.” A person familiar with lithium mining told reporters that although many lithium mining companies have not released the main business data from January to February, due to the strong downstream demand and the rising price of lithium carbonate, the probability of relevant companies also has a good performance.
lithium mining enterprises enjoy booming production and sales from January to February
The tense relationship between supply and demand and the soaring transaction price make lithium carbonate manufacturers feel that “the peak is at the beginning of the year”.
“At present, the ex factory price of electric carbon is about 520000 yuan / ton, and the product is in short supply.” A person close to zangge mining told reporters that the ton price of 520000 yuan of electric carbon increased by about 220000 yuan compared with 300000 yuan on New Year’s day this year. Although the price soared, the enthusiasm of taking goods downstream did not diminish at all.
The same feeling is shared by Qinghai Yunke salt lake. A person familiar with Lanke lithium industry said that at present, although the ex factory ton price of lithium carbonate of the company does not exceed 500000 yuan, there is “little gap”.
As the two leading enterprises of lithium extraction in Qinghai Salt Lake, Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co.Ltd(000792) and zangge mining have not fully opened their production capacity. “Affected by the winter climate, the winter production level of lithium extraction enterprises in Qinghai Salt Lake is about 60% to 70% of the design capacity.” A person familiar with lithium extraction from Qinghai Salt Lake told reporters that Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co.Ltd(000792) and zangge mining currently have a daily lithium carbonate output of about 70 tons and 23 tons respectively, with a space of nearly 30 tons and 12 tons respectively from full production.
The person further said that with the rise of temperature, the capacity utilization rate of the two companies that also use the adsorption method to “extract lithium” will gradually increase, and it is expected to reach the full capacity of the design capacity after May.
In terms of cost, the reporter learned from various inquiries that the production cost of lithium carbonate in Qinghai Salt Lake in winter is roughly 35000 yuan / ton, which is “not worth mentioning” compared with the market quotation of 300000 yuan / ton at the beginning of the year to the latest 500000 yuan / ton. It is not difficult to infer from this that only from the perspective of lithium carbonate business, the operation data of the above two companies from January to February are highly likely to be expected.
The reporter’s speculation was also recognized by people close to Zangger mining. “From the current production and sales and the selling price of lithium carbonate, it is expected that the operating data of the company from January to February will increase significantly compared with the same period in 2021.” The person said.
In addition, Tibet Mineral Development Co.Ltd(000762) relevant people told reporters that the company’s lithium concentrate production is normal at present. The company left a certain lithium concentrate inventory in the fourth quarter of last year and sold it in the first quarter of this year.
While Tianqi Lithium Corporation(002466) the leader of lithium extraction from ore said that at present, the production bases of the company have normal and orderly production and operation, and the production is in a saturated state, with full production and full sales. As for the performance, Tianqi Lithium Corporation(002466) it is estimated that from January to February this year, the operating revenue of lithium concentrate will increase by about 366% year-on-year, and the operating revenue of lithium compounds and their derivatives will increase by about 492% year-on-year.
lithium carbonate price rising trend or slowing down
The tight relationship between supply and demand is the key factor in the price rise of lithium carbonate. The recent “soaring” price of lithium carbonate is mainly due to the fact that the new production capacity has not been put into operation and the tightening of overseas lithium mine development. However, in the view of insiders, with some lithium carbonate enterprises ending maintenance one after another, coupled with the increase in production caused by the climbing of new production capacity and the rise of temperature in Qinghai, it is expected that the supply of lithium carbonate may increase significantly in March, The price rise of lithium carbonate will narrow.
Since March, although the price of lithium carbonate, which had risen fiercely, has continued to rise, it has been significantly narrower than the previous increase. For the narrowing of the increase of lithium carbonate, some A-share lithium carbonate manufacturers said that there was indeed a slowdown trend, but from the perspective of new capacity and downstream demand, the high price of lithium carbonate may become the “main theme” of this year.
“The production expansion projects of various manufacturers can not fully reach the production capacity this year, and the tight balance between supply and demand of lithium carbonate may run through the whole year.” The aforementioned person further said that the development of lithium ore takes a lot of time from formalities to project implementation, and the production speed of lithium carbonate is far from keeping up with the growth rate of upstream and downstream new energy vehicles. “From the feedback of downstream procurement, high-level operation will be the key word of lithium carbonate Market in 2022.”
In fact, the high growth rate of downstream demand has also brought great challenges to the upstream lithium carbonate industry. According to the statistics of Baichuan Yingfu, the apparent consumption of lithium carbonate in China in 2021 was 303400 tons. Among them, in addition to 240000 tons produced in China, nearly 80000 tons of lithium carbonate are supplemented by import. It can be seen that accelerating the development of lithium resources is of great significance to ensure the development of China Shanxi Guoxin Energy Corporation Limited(600617) industry.
At present, the hot sales scene of lithium carbonate makes the upstream of lithium mine earn a lot, but the tense relationship between supply and demand also reflects the scarcity of lithium resources. In this regard, lithium carbonate enterprises have made specific plans for the layout of lithium resources.
Taking Zangger mining as an example, the “Five-Year Plan” recently disclosed by the company has set itself the goal of adding one to two million ton lithium carbonate reserves of Salt Lake Lithium projects through mergers and acquisitions in the next three years Tianqi Lithium Corporation(002466) Chairman Jiang Weiping recently suggested accelerating the green development of lithium resources in Sichuan, transforming resource advantages into capacity advantages as soon as possible, and helping the development of lithium battery industry “move forward”.
