With the rapid growth of the demand for new energy vehicles, the lithium resource market continues to be tight, and lithium ore has increasingly become the key to the development of relevant enterprises. It can be said that “there is lithium all over the world” lithium resource leader Ganfeng Lithium Co.Ltd(002460) announced that the company and its partners plan to upgrade the ore processing capacity of MT Marion spodumene project under rim. However, since the company’s share price reached its highest point in September 2021, accumulated maximum decline has exceeded 40% .
For the upgrading of the above projects, the announcement calculation results show that the lithium concentrate capacity of MT Marion spodumene project is expected to increase from the original 450000 T / A to Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co.Ltd(600000) T / a by April 2022. Meanwhile, with the capacity expansion of rim in the second phase, it is expected to double the existing lithium concentrate capacity to 900000 tons / year . MT Marion spodumene project is one of the largest spodumene producers in the world.
lithium salt is in short supply for a long time highlights the strategic importance of lithium resources. According to the statistics of Anxin securities, at present, Ganfeng Lithium Co.Ltd(002460) has arranged the Australian spodumene, Argentine Salt Lake and Mexican clay projects globally in while indirectly acquiring 50% equity of goulamina spodumene mine in Africa, participating in core and signing lithium concentrate underwriting agreement, increasing 100% equity of Mariana project and wholly acquiring Sonora equity.
It is worth noting that the annual report disclosed on Ganfeng Lithium Co.Ltd(002460) 3 March 31 shows that the company achieved a revenue of 11.162 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 102.07%; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 5.228 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 410.26%, and both reached a record high .
In addition, Ganfeng Lithium Co.Ltd(002460) also announced the results of the first two months of this year not long ago, of which the net profit after deduction was about 1.8 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 10 times . For the reasons for the performance growth this year, the company said that due to the further rise in product prices, the sales volume increased year-on-year.
According to Ganfeng Lithium Co.Ltd(002460) main products, more than 70% of the company’s revenue comes from lithium salt business, and the profit generated accounts for 89.5% .
According to the data, from the beginning of 2021 to March 2022, the average price of battery grade lithium carbonate increased from 53000 yuan / ton to 495000 yuan / ton, increased by 833.9% .
As for the later trend of lithium price, China Merchants Bank Co.Ltd(600036) Yan Yan et al analyzed in the Research Report on March 4 that in the short term, in 2022, the supply of lithium salt is in shortage and the price remains high ; From 2023 to 2025, with the rapid release of production capacity, prices fell periodically, but it is difficult to see a sharp decline in prices from 2019 to 2020 .
Dongxing Securities Corporation Limited(601198) Zhang Tianfeng and others said in their research report on April 1 that considering that China’s lithium price has risen to 500000 yuan / ton in 22q1, under the expectation of the follow-up increase of overseas long-term single price and long-term agreement price of lithium concentrate, the company’s lithium salt business will continue to show a year-on-year high growth trend in 2022, gross profit margin may maintain a historical high level of more than 40% .
As of April 3, 18 institutions have predicted the performance of Ganfeng Lithium Co.Ltd(002460) in 2022 within six months, of which the estimated average net profit attributable to the parent company is 9.255 billion yuan and the maximum value is 13.841 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 164.7% .
Zhang Tianfeng and others estimate that the annual net profit of Hongda Xingye Co.Ltd(002002) 460 yes.
However, on the other hand, the abnormal price of lithium materials has attracted the attention of all parties recently. The Ministry of industry and information technology recently held two consecutive symposiums to convene relevant heads of industry associations and key enterprises upstream and downstream of the industrial chain such as lithium resource development, lithium salt production, cathode materials and power batteries. The meeting required that upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain should strengthen the connection between supply and demand, work together to form a long-term and stable strategic cooperative relationship, and jointly guide the rational return of lithium salt price .
In this regard, a number of industry insiders said that the price of lithium carbonate has become calm after two months of sharp rise. With the increase of supply, the price of may fall in the second quarter, and the rising market may usher in an inflection point .
