According to statistics in December 2019, the import volume of lithium concentration in January this year was 145 thousand tons, an increase of 2.6% month-on-month and an increase of 42.5% year-on-year. Lithium raw ore is not imported. Compared with the import customs data in December 2018, the import volume of lithium raw ore has fallen sharply.
The Chinese side believes that the import of lithium raw ore gradually decreases until it disappears, mainly because Australia's Wodgina mine, which provides lithium raw ore exports, will no longer sell lithium raw ore externally in 2019. Its operating company, Mineral Resources Limited, will set up a lithium concentrate beneficiation line and a lithium hydroxide plant directly in Australia to use raw ore produced by the Wodgina mine. According to an announcement issued by Mineral Resources Limited, there are currently three lithium concentrate beneficiation lines under construction, and each production line can choose to produce lithium concentrates with a grade range of 5% to 6%. The capacity of each production line is 278,000 tons of spodumene concentrate with a grade of 6%, and its total production capacity is 833,000 tons. Or 333,000 tons of spodumene concentrate with a grade of 5.5%, with a total capacity of 1,000,000 tons. According to the plan, the production time of the above three production lines will be the second, third and fourth quarters of 2019, respectively.
And it set up a lithium hydroxide plant in the Wodgina project to convert its own lithium concentrate. According to the annual report, the lithium hydroxide plant is divided into two phases, each with a capacity of 28,400 tons. According to the design, the two phases of the lithium hydroxide project will convert 50% of lithium concentrate. Based on the results of this lithium hydroxide project, Mineral Resources Limited will decide whether the construction will complete the remaining two phases——complete the conversion of 100% lithium concentrate on lithium hydroxide.
In terms of price, the average import price of lithium concentrate in January 2019 was the US $ 754 per ton, which remained unchanged from the previous month and decreased by 21.4% year-on-year. The decline in the import price of lithium concentrate confirms our previous point of view subject to the steep decline in the price of lithium salt in
2018, Chinese lithium salt companies have done their utmost to create room for a decline in their raw material costs in negotiations with Australian miners. In the long run, the price of lithium ore does not rule out the possibility of continuing to decline. For lithium ore companies with higher operating costs, such as the North American lithium industry that has recently announced a temporary suspension of production, there may be risks of reduction or shutdown.
