Shanghai Nonferrous Metals data shows that as of June 7, the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was reported at 310,000 yuan/ton, an increase of more than 70% from the low point of 176,500 yuan/ton in mid-to-late April this year.
The boom in the new energy vehicle market has improved and the demand for energy storage has gradually increased, driving up the demand for upstream raw materials and pushing up their prices. Industry insiders said that the current price of lithium carbonate has shown an upward reversal trend. It is expected that after the price of the industrial chain stabilizes, the production schedule of enterprises will improve month-on-month, and the demand for downstream energy storage installations is expected to increase.
The price of lithium carbonate rebounded
Since mid-to-late April, the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate bottomed out and rebounded rapidly. Data show that as of June 7, the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was reported at 310,000 yuan/ton, compared with this year's low of 176,500 yuan/ton, an increase of 76% within 40 days.
"There were a lot more orders in May, and the production lines were operating at full capacity. Many orders that month could not be digested and were pushed back for 1-2 months. The urgent orders had to be rejected." Domestic Zhang Yu (pseudonym), the relevant person in charge of a lithium carbonate manufacturer, revealed to reporters.
The reporter also learned from the person in charge of market procurement of a domestic power battery manufacturer, "When the price of (lithium carbonate) fell to more than 100,000 yuan per ton in April this year, some (upstream) factories were reluctant to sell and stored a lot of goods. .Downstream sales have picked up recently, and we have a lot more orders on hand, and we have cleared the inventory of several cooperative factories in almost half a month."
"Basically, it is produced and sold now. While the production line is shipping, it will be packed and taken away by the truck. It will not be stored in the warehouse for more than one day. The manpower has also doubled, and two shifts are guaranteed to ensure production." Zhang Zhang Yu said.
Wang Jinben, independent director of Ganfeng Lithium Industry, previously stated that the current terminal market demand is still there. With the arrival of the new energy vehicle sales peak season, terminal demand is expected to pick up further. Price down is unlikely.
Yiwei Lithium Energy said in an investor relations event recently that because the current material prices have stabilized, the company's production line debugging has basically been completed and is in a stable state, and the yield rate is also at a relatively high level. Since May, production scheduling has been greatly improved compared with the past.
Increase in downstream demand
As the main downstream demand side of power batteries, the sales of new energy vehicles have rebounded, which has driven the recovery of demand for power battery raw materials represented by lithium carbonate, and boosted their prices.
The latest data released by the Passenger Federation shows that according to preliminary statistics, in May, the retail sales of new energy vehicles in the passenger car market reached 557,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 55% and a month-on-month increase of 6%. Since the beginning of this year, a total of 2.4 million new energy vehicles have been retailed in the passenger car market, a year-on-year increase of 40%.
In terms of wholesale volume, in May, passenger car manufacturers nationwide wholesaled 671,000 new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 59%, and a month-on-month increase of 11%.
The development of the new energy automobile industry is strongly supported by national policies, and the market space is broad. The State Council executive meeting held recently pointed out that it is necessary to continue and optimize the policy of tax reduction and exemption for the purchase of new energy vehicles, build a high-quality charging infrastructure system, further stabilize market expectations, optimize the consumption environment, and release the consumption potential of new energy vehicles to a greater extent.
Huaxi Securities stated that the current point of time is the starting point for new energy vehicles to enter the mass popularization market. The continuation and optimization of the purchase tax reduction and exemption policy, and the construction of superimposed charging infrastructure are expected to optimize the consumption and use environment of new energy vehicles, solve consumption pain points, and accelerate the development of new energy vehicles. Open the mainstream market.
In addition, the demand for new energy storage led by lithium batteries is also growing rapidly, and the demand for upstream lithium resources continues to increase. Bank of China Securities predicts that in 2023, the global demand for energy storage batteries will reach 260GWh, and will increase to 625GWh by 2025, with an average annual compound growth rate of 54.9%. (Reporter Jin Yidan)
微信扫一扫打赏
