Raw Materials

Following the production halt at the CATL lithium mine on August 10, China's lithium carbonate prices surged by 24 percent at one point.

Tianqi Lithium rose nearly 11 percent in Hong Kong, while China's most active lithium carbonate futures rose by the daily limit of 8 percent.

CATL is still in talks with government agencies to renew the permit but is prepared to extend the suspension for several months, Bloomberg reported.

BYD and Tsingshan are backing out of multimillion-dollar plans to build lithium cathode plants in Chile, according to Reuters.

There have been frequent cases of LFP producers receiving large orders, and some of the big players are raising prices.

BYD acquired mining rights for two plots of land in a lithium-rich part of Brazil in 2023, Reuters reported.

A rumor -- later confirmed -- that CATL had suspended lithium production in Jiangxi sent shares of major lithium producers soaring.

Demand for power batteries in China was steady overall in July, but battery material costs continued to fall, resulting in a slight downward trend in battery cell prices, TrendForce said.

TrendForce expects battery cell prices to continue to face downward pressure at the beginning of the third quarter, with hopes for price stabilization resting on restocking demand under the peak season at the end of the third quarter.

Lithium producers including Ganfeng and Tianqi expect their net profits in 2023 to be much lower than in 2022, with the common reason being a sharp drop in lithium prices.