Lithium carbonate consumption will grow

The increase in the demand for new energy vehicles will drive the increase in the shipments and prices of processed lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide and lithium chloride. Due to the increase in raw materials and transportation costs, FMC Corporation, the world’s second-largest supplier of lithium chemicals, raised the price of related lithium products by 10% in December 2014, which will push domestic lithium carbonate prices higher.

Lithium carbonate

On January 6, 2015, the price of lithium carbonate was raised by RMB 500/tonne to RMB 42,500/tonne, which is an increase of 14.86% compared with RMB 37,000/tonne at the beginning of 2014. Zhang Jiangfeng, secretary general of the Lithium Industry Association of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, believes that the supply and demand of lithium carbonate are basically balanced, and the recent rise in the price of lithium carbonate has mainly benefited from the price increase of upstream mines.

Currently in the winter, some of the lithium-supply companies in the salt lakes have stopped production, and the lithium salt market is showing a strong outlook. The price of lithium concentrate in 2015 is expected to increase year-on-year. Lithium carbonate prices have increased by a certain margin in the 3rd to 4th quarters of 2014. It is expected that there will be a certain range of growth in 2015. Lithium carbonate is an important raw material for lithium batteries for new energy vehicles, and the new energy automotive industry is developing rapidly. In 2015, the domestic production and sales volume is expected to exceed 100,000 vehicles, and the consumption of lithium carbonate will increase steadily.

However, recent domestic and international new production capacity also poses a certain resistance to lithium prices in 2015. Toyota’s subsidiary company, which is a subsidiary company of Toyota Tsusho Corporation, was completed and officially put into operation in December 2014. The factory’s planned annual production of lithium carbonate is 17,500 tons.