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giants cement position at lithium’s top table","chinas-giants-cement-position-at-lithiums-top-table","article/chinas-giants-cement-position-at-lithiums-top-table",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":563,"content":573,"excerpt":639,"featured":50,"reporter":640,"_editable":644,"component":645,"seo_title":553,"categories":646,"visibility":655,"author_company":49,"featured_image":656,"seo_description":639,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":661,"formattedArticleDate":662},"7bc00b04-03cc-4fce-8733-0e676e887d70","2018-06-15 00:00",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562},"china","China",[564],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":567},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":568,"image":569,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":570},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":574,"content":575},"doc",[576,584,590,595,600,605,610,615,620,625,630],{"type":577,"attrs":578,"content":580},"heading",{"level":579,"textAlign":49},3,[581],{"text":582,"type":583},"Tianqi and Ganfeng report record 2017 as Chinese converters ramp up new capacity expansions","text",{"type":585,"attrs":586,"content":587},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[588],{"text":589,"type":583},"China’s leading lithium converters – Ganfeng Lithium and Tianqi Lithium Corporation– both reported significant revenue increases in their annual reports for 2017 with increased sales volumes allowing them to further exploit ongoing high industry prices. Ganfeng led the way with a 54% increase in sales revenue and a massive 216% increase in net profits of RMB 1.47bn.",{"type":585,"attrs":591,"content":592},{"textAlign":49},[593],{"text":594,"type":583},"The company’s continued financial growth has been supported by a diverse portfolio of lithium production assets across the supply chain which have seen them become the world’s leading producer of lithium metal. They also secured crucial resources which began to come to fruition in 2017 through their offtake agreement for supply from the Mt Marion spodumene mine. The assets are expected to be added to with further investments in the near-term, backed by the company filing for an IPO in Hong Kong in February, a move which is expected to raise over $1bn. Elsewhere Tianqi also announced an increase in sales revenue from RMB 3.9bn in 2016 to RMB 5.47bn in 2017, an increase of over 40%.",{"type":585,"attrs":596,"content":597},{"textAlign":49},[598],{"text":599,"type":583},"While the company’s production expansions were less aggressive in 2017 they are aiming to reach 40,000 tpa LCE output in 2018, growing to 110,000 tpa by the end of 2019, led by the company’s new lithium hydroxide facilities in Western Australia. Despite both Ganfeng and Tianqi targeting major expansions over the coming 2-3 years, neither are anticipating a significant oversupply in the near-term.",{"type":585,"attrs":601,"content":602},{"textAlign":49},[603],{"text":604,"type":583},"Tianqi told investors that they expected prices to remain around 2017 levels out to at least 2021 as we enter a period of significant demand growth. These projections come in spite of concerns earlier in Q1 2018 that the market was approaching a period of oversupply and price decreases, with a number of new spodumene operations due to begin production this year and smaller Chinese converters investing heavily to increase production.",{"type":577,"attrs":606,"content":607},{"level":579,"textAlign":49},[608],{"text":609,"type":583},"Prices fly in face of capacity expansions",{"type":585,"attrs":611,"content":612},{"textAlign":49},[613],{"text":614,"type":583},"The fears of potential oversupply which immersed investor sentiment in early-Q1 failed to arise with tight supplies still being reported, and the minor decrease in average prices around February rebounding as Chinese consumers returned to the market following the country’s Spring Festival. With Chinese converters eager to introduce new production lines, very little of this new capacity translated to real battery-grade volumes in the market.",{"type":585,"attrs":616,"content":617},{"textAlign":49},[618],{"text":619,"type":583},"A number of new project announcements were made in January from companies including Zangge Lithium, Yongxing New Energy Co and Infund Holding Group. However, a joint-venture between Qinghai Salt Lake and BYD was the only significant project to actually break ground in Q1, initiating construction of a new 50,000 tpa LCE facility in early-February.",{"type":585,"attrs":621,"content":622},{"textAlign":49},[623],{"text":624,"type":583},"Even as one of the more credible partnerships between established market participants, major questions remain over their ability to produce these types of quantities economically from Qinghai brine feedstock. Regardless, first production at the project is not expected before H2 2019 at the earliest. The only significant new capacity actually introduced through the quarter was Ganfeng’s new 20,000 tpa lithium hydroxide facility which completed commissioning in February, Sichuan Zhiyuan Lithium Company which completed construction of a new 13,000 tpa plant in March and Jiangte Motor which began operations at a new 5,000 tpa lithium carbonate production line, after months of debugging.",{"type":585,"attrs":626,"content":627},{"textAlign":49},[628],{"text":629,"type":583},"The issues experienced by Jiangte and the ongoing challenges faced by other producers as they try to meet the ambitious targets outlined to investors, illustrate the slow response of new supply. Despite already having a nameplate capacity of over 200,000 tpa in 2017, the effective capacity of Chinese operations is around 65% of this, an even smaller proportion of which is battery-grade material. As a result the market was tight in Q1 and is expected to remain finely balanced for the foreseeable future despite new feedstock material production.",{"type":585,"attrs":631,"content":632},{"textAlign":49},[633,635,637],{"text":634,"type":583},"The ",{"text":636,"type":583},"Benchmark Lithium Price Index",{"text":638,"type":583}," has increased marginally year to date, and with prices outside of Asia gradually narrowing on domestic China levels, robust pricing will likely continue approaching H2. As a result, the Chinese majors with a track-record of bringing new, battery-grade supplies into the market look set to prosper from favourable pricing and growing revenues for the foreseeable future. For others, the race to bring new volumes to market and benefit from the unprecedented market growth expected over the coming decade is far from over.","Tianqi and Ganfeng report record 2017 as Chinese converters ramp up new capacity expansions China’s leading lithium converters – Ganfeng Lithium and Tianqi Lithium Corporation– both reported significant revenue increases in their annual reports for 2017 with increased sales volumes allowing them to further exploit ongoing high industry prices. Ganfeng led the way with a […]",[641],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":642},{"job_title":568,"image":643,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},{"filename":570},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"7bc00b04-03cc-4fce-8733-0e676e887d70\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[647,650,653],{"slug":648,"name":649},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":651,"name":652},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":654,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":657,"name":657,"focus":657,"title":657,"source":657,"filename":658,"copyright":657,"fieldtype":659,"meta_data":660,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/3d7f437d7d/bm-5612521974-db3e6e6379-o.jpg","asset",{"alt":657,"title":657,"source":657,"copyright":657},"Jun 15, 2018","15th June 2018",[],[],1792773944732]