During this Friday, lithium carbonate futures on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange rose 2.9% to 89,800 yuan per metric ton, about US$12,356.89.
The strong 7.3 magnitude earthquake that shook the regions of Antofagasta and Tarapacá not only left power outages, dozens of aftershocks and the unfortunate death of one person. On the other side of the Pacific, lithium prices had their own “shock” due to the earthquake in Chile.
During this Friday, lithium carbonate futures on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange rose 2.9% to 89,800 yuan per metric ton, about US$12,356.89.
STRONG EARTHQUAKE SHOCKED LITHIUM PRICES IN CHINA
Such a rebound from 86,450 yuan (US$ 11,904) in the previous session came from the fears that aroused in investors that the earthquake would affect lithium supply chains, remembering that 90% of the reserves of the mineral, key to the batteries, are in the Atamaca Desert, highlighted Reuters .
Despite this increase, fears about lower sales of electric cars (EV), which already led to a drop in lithium prices at the beginning of the week, continue to weigh on Chinese analysts.
And there are aspects such as the possible re-election of Donald Trump - who warned that he would step back from the promotion of electromobility models -, the lower level of purchase of EVs in Europe or the higher production figures of lithium carbonate in China (57.4% more in the middle of the year), which creates a complex picture for analysts.
“Since March, the better prices for lithium carbonate will increase production. However, producers could put on the brakes as recent declines reduced their margins. August is likely to see a decline in production,” CITIC Futures analyst Zhang Yuang told Reuters .
FIGHTS OVER CHINESE ELECTRIC CARS IN EUROPE
Let us remember that both the European Union and China are in the middle of a tariff fight, after the old continent imposed surcharges on imports of “Made in China” electric cars.
According to the European Commission, through a preliminary investigation it was concluded that these models have illegal subsidies, affecting community consumers.
For this reason, it announced the intention to impose additional tariffs of 17.4% on the manufacturer BYD, 20% on Geely and 38.1% on SAIC, the three companies that the Commission has included in its investigation.
In response, China has launched an investigation into trade barriers imposed by the European Union, along with an anti-dumping investigation into European pork imports.
