Inorganic Chemicals Industry ›› 2022, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (9): 1-13.doi: 10.19964/j.issn.1006-4990.2022-0235

• Reviews and Special Topics •     Next Articles

Quantitative analysis of linkage between lithium supply and demand and lithium price

WANG Ping()   

  1. Chengdu Tianqi(Group) Co.,Ltd,Chengdu 610041,China
  • Received:2022-05-27 Online:2022-09-10 Published:2022-09-22

Abstract:

The global energy transition is advancing rapidly,and the development of electric vehicles as the representative of energy transition is in full swing.As the critical material for electric vehicle batteries,the price of lithium has been sky?rocketing in recent years,hitting a high price of more than 500 000 RMB per ton in March 2022,more than 10 times of the lowest price in 2020.Kinds of lithium minerals and their chemical composition,lithium resources and reserves,lithium extraction methods,lithium applications and the main increase driving ones,lithium supply and demand in the world and in China are introduced.According to China's lithium supply and demand from January 2019 to February 2022,comparing with the changes in lithium prices during this period,and combining economic terms,linkage between China's lithium supply and demand and price is discussed.It is concluded that the supply and demand fundamentals determine the price of lithium,and the price of lithium determines the future supply and demand structure of lithium.In the upward stage of price,due to the“bullwhip effect”and hype,the price of lithium fluctuates too much.Finally,suggestions are put forward to prevent excessive fluctuations in lithium prices and to promote the healthy development of the lithium supply chain:1)strengthen the development of domestic lithium resources and reduce overseas dependence to ensure that the supply of lithium could meet the rapidly increasing demand;2)Increase the transparency of lithium supply and demand and reduce the difference between demand and actual consumption to avoid excessive price fluctuations;3)Establish a national lithium collection and storage mechanism to collect and store lithium when the supply of lithium is greater than the demand,so as to avoid the excessive decline of prices,and release the stored lithium when the supply of lithium is less than the demand,so as to curb the excessive rise of prices;4)Upstream and downstream enterprises in the lithium supply chain strengthen their risk awareness and reasonably use derivatives tools to hedge the risks caused by the sharp fluctuations in lithium prices.

Key words: lithium resources, lithium supply, lithium demand, lithium price, lithium extraction method

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