Metallurgy / Chemicals / Rubber & Plastics

In 2022, China's import of lithium carbonate, the raw material for batteries, will increase significantly. According to customs data, from January to December 2022, China's lithium carbonate import volume reached 136000 tons, up 68% year on year, with an increase rate of 6.3 percentage points over 2021. According to customs data, the annual lithium carbonate export volume in 2022 was 10400 tons, and the net lithium carbonate import volume was 125700 tons, up about 72% year on year.

According to customs data, China's apparent consumption of lithium carbonate will reach 474300 tons in 2022, and the import dependency of lithium carbonate will be 26.2%. Among them, lithium carbonate from Chile is 12.17 tons, accounting for 89.5% of the total imports; The lithium carbonate from Argentina is 12800 tons, accounting for 9.4% of the total imports. The total imports of lithium carbonate from the two countries accounted for 98.9% of the total imports.

Shanghai is the province with the highest quantity of lithium carbonate imported in China. According to the data of Shanghai Customs, the cumulative import volume of lithium carbonate, the raw material for lithium batteries in Shanghai, in 2022, was 84000 tons, an increase of 89.9% year on year.

In addition, China has become the world's largest exporter of lithium hydroxide, with more than 95% of its products exported to Japan and South Korea. According to customs data, lithium hydroxide exported to South Korea has surpassed Japan, accounting for 63%. In 2022, China's net export of lithium hydroxide was 90300 tons, up about 29% year on year.

Why is China a net importer of lithium carbonate and a net exporter of lithium hydroxide? According to the analysis, lithium hydroxide is mainly used as the raw material of high-nickel ternary lithium batteries. At present, high-nickel batteries and supporting vehicles are more produced and consumed in the foreign market. On the contrary, the domestic demand for lithium hydroxide is relatively limited, but more than 90% of the global lithium hydroxide smelting capacity is concentrated in China. The leading enterprises include Ganfeng Lithium, Yabao Group, Yahua Group, etc., which results in differences in the supply and demand structure of the two markets at home and abroad.