Recently, the scene of lithium ore auction being robbed by various capitals has once again attracted market attention.
On May 17, the auction of 542857% equity of Sichuan Yajiang snowway mining started on Jingdong bankruptcy auction platform, with a starting price of 3.3529 million yuan. As of 16:30 on May 18, the latest bidding has reached 413 million yuan, 122 times higher than the starting price.
On May 24, Pilbara, an Australian lithium supplier, will hold the second lithium concentrate auction of the year. The auction price at the end of April was $5650 / ton, up 140% from the previous auction price.
Lithium resources are in short supply, and all kinds of capital around the world are enthusiastic about competing for lithium mines.
“The soaring auction price of lithium ore more reflects the importance we attach to lithium resources.” Luo Xiaoli, a lithium industry analyst of Shanghai Ganglian E-Commerce Holdings Co.Ltd(300226) new energy division, told the Securities Daily that since the third quarter of 2020, the market price of lithium carbonate has risen sharply, and the supply shortage and demand expansion are the main factors affecting the rising price of lithium resources.
a large rise in the bidding price of lithium mine equity
At 10 a.m. on May 17, a bankruptcy liquidation equity auction was under way on JD bankruptcy auction platform. As the auction target involved lithium ore, it was patronized by all kinds of capital and entered a white hot state from the beginning of the auction. As of 16:30 on May 18, the auction had attracted more than 500000 onlookers, delayed 2353 times, and the bidding price had risen to 413 million yuan, 122 times higher than the starting price.
It is understood that the auction target is the 542857% equity of Sichuan Yajiang snowway Mining Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as snowway mining) held by Chengdu Xingneng new materials Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Xingneng new materials”).
According to tianyancha data, snowy mining was founded in 2008, and Xingneng new materials holds 57.1% of the company. Snowway mining owns the exploration right of delanongba lithium mine. Delanongba lithium mine is located in the northeast of Yajiang County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province. It belongs to methylka spodumene mining area. The mine reserves reach 18.14 million tons, with an average grade of 1.34%. It is a super large lithium mine.
Up to now, it is still unknown who will spend the controlling stake of snowway mining, but it is reported that China’s first-line lithium salt enterprises and leading downstream power battery enterprises are not excluded from participating in the bidding, Gcl Energy Technology Co.Ltd(002015) , Sichuan New Energy Power Company Limited(000155) etc. may participate in the bidding.
Gcl Energy Technology Co.Ltd(002015) previously said that the company plans to extend to the raw material lithium industry upstream of energy and is planning and promoting the transactions related to the underlying assets of potential investment.
Ningxia Zhongyin Cashmere Co.Ltd(000982) in response to questions from investors, who entered the lithium battery field of new energy through M & A, said that it did not participate in the auction of the equity of snowway mining.
In the context of the current shortage of lithium resources, if an enterprise can successfully obtain the controlling stake of snowway mining, it is expected to “have lithium all over the world” in the capital market and enjoy the huge benefits brought by “having a mine at home”.
Zhang Xiang, President of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute of Jiangxi new energy technology vocational college, told the Securities Daily that in the past, the mining cost of domestic lithium ore was too high. Most Chinese enterprises imported Australian lithium ore to refine lithium carbonate, but the price of lithium carbonate has increased five or six times in the past year. China’s mining of lithium ore began to be profitable, including some battery suppliers.
“With the rapid growth of global production of new energy vehicles, the strategic position of lithium resources has become increasingly prominent. The whole industrial chain, from mining companies, lithium salt companies to battery manufacturers, has maintained high investment enthusiasm for lithium mines.” Luo Xiaoli told reporters.
all kinds of capital are looking for minerals everywhere
At present, China’s lithium resources are mainly produced in Qinghai and Tibet Salt Lake mines, spodumene mines in Sichuan and lithium mica mines in Jiangxi.
“Due to the long mining cycle of lithium ore and the rapid growth of downstream material end and demand side, resulting in the imbalance between supply and demand, it is expected that the investment enthusiasm of upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain for lithium ore will continue in the short term.” Luo Xiaoli also said.
Guotai Junan Securities Co.Ltd(601211) said in the research report that the boom cycle of super lithium industry since 2020 is mainly due to the lack of resources at the mine end. In the global lithium resource supply, overseas resources account for 74%, which is the main force of lithium resource supply. Although China is a large country in lithium smelting and processing, its dependence on overseas lithium resources is as high as more than 60%. In this context, it is a general trend to increase the exploitation of lithium resources in China.
In January this year, Guo Shougang, deputy director of the first Department of equipment industry of the Ministry of industry and information technology, said that he would improve the support capacity of key resources, strengthen communication and coordination with provinces and cities such as Sichuan, Jiangxi and Qinghai, and accelerate the development of lithium resources in China. In February, Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of industry and information technology, said that China would moderately accelerate the development of lithium, nickel and other resources this year.
On April 20, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) holding subsidiary Yichun Shidai New Energy Mining Co., Ltd. successfully won the exploration right of ceramic soil (including lithium) in zhenkouli Fengxin jianxiawo mining area, Yifeng County, Jiangxi Province with an offer of 865 million yuan.
In addition, battery manufacturers such as honeycomb energy and Sunwoda Electronic Co.Ltd(300207) also participate in the development of lithium resources in China’s lithium mines and salt lakes by means of acquisition and shareholding.
Zhang Jinhui, an analyst at xinlune information, told the Securities Daily that local governments with lithium resources in China are working with head power battery manufacturers to develop the lithium battery industry chain. Power battery manufacturers take the mine directly, and the main engine plant begins to layout lithium resources to ensure the safety of the future supply chain and control costs.
Zhang Jinhui also mentioned that the surge in sales of new energy vehicles has led to the mismatch of supply and demand in multiple links of the industrial chain. In the past two years, the supply chain of lithium resources has been tight, and the price of lithium carbonate has risen sharply. The development cycle of lithium ore is 3-5 years, which can not keep up with the current development speed of new energy vehicles. Driven by high profits, all kinds of capital are prospecting around the world.
lithium resource supply and demand contradiction is still prominent
Not only was China’s lithium ore auction wildly robbed, but foreign countries were no exception. It is understood that Pilbara, an Australian lithium supplier, will launch the second lithium concentrate auction of the year on the BMX platform at 15:00 on May 24. The auction of 5000 tons of lithium concentrate is the fifth in the company’s history. In the first auction of the year on April 27, the final auction price of 5000 tons of lithium concentrate was as high as US $5650 / ton. The auction price of lithium concentrate in Pilbara is known as the wind vane of global lithium concentrate price trend.
In this regard, Wen Zhengping, an analyst at Xiangcai securities, said that Pilbara’s previous auctions would contribute to the rise in lithium prices. The high auction price, on the one hand, reflects that the enterprise is optimistic about the demand for lithium resources and actively purchases; On the other hand, the price rise of lithium concentrate is fierce, which will further squeeze the profit space of Chinese lithium salt enterprises.
According to the operation of the non-ferrous metals industry in the first quarter of 2022 released by the Ministry of industry and information technology, affected by the growth of demand in the new energy industry and the tight supply of lithium resources, the average price of battery grade lithium carbonate in China in the first quarter was 421000 yuan / ton, a year-on-year increase of 456%.
Guotai Junan Securities Co.Ltd(601211) research report also believes that the demand for lithium resources is expected to maintain a compound growth rate of more than 30% in the future, benefiting from the explosive growth of new energy vehicles and energy storage demand. In 2022, the contradiction between supply and demand in the lithium industry is still prominent, and the gap between supply and demand lies in the resource side with slow production expansion. Therefore, it is expected that the lithium price will continue to operate at a high level.
Zhang Jinhui believes that accelerating the layout of lithium resources outside China can effectively reduce the dependence on Australian minerals. Only by forming diversified supply prices can we guide the lithium price to return to rationality
540000 people gathered around! A lithium mine bidding soared a hundred times, exceeding 500 million. Two mysterious people bid for two days and one night and dare not sleep
Hot auction of a lithium mine in Sichuan: the starting price is more than 3 million yuan, and the bidding price has exceeded 124 million yuan
