The average price of nickel, cobalt and battery grade lithium carbonate rose

According to the operation of the non-ferrous metal industry in the first quarter of 2022 released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the average price of nickel, cobalt and battery-grade lithium carbonate in China was 190,000 yuan/ton, 525,000 yuan/ton and 421,000 yuan/ton respectively in the first quarter of 2022, up 43.2%, 54.4% and 456% year-on-year, due to the increasing demand of the new energy industry and the tight supply of lithium resources.  

In the first quarter of 2022, the output of ten non-ferrous metals was 16.17 million tons, up 0.9 percent year-on-year, the data showed.  The output of copper, lead and zinc was 2.644 million tons, 1.811 million tons and 1.655 million tons, up 6.1%, 1.2% and 0.7% year on year respectively. The output of electrolytic aluminum was 9.633 million tons, down 0.4% year on year.  

In terms of price, the price of bulk non-ferrous metals continued to run high in the first quarter. The average spot prices of copper, aluminum, lead and zinc were 71,672 yuan/ton, 22,187 yuan/ton, 15,440 yuan/ton and 25,548 yuan/ton respectively, up 14.4%, 37%, 0.6% and 15.6% year-on-year.  Affected by the demand growth of the new energy industry and the tight supply of lithium resources, the average price of nickel, cobalt and battery-grade lithium carbonate in China was 190,000 yuan/ton, 525,000 yuan/ton and 421,000 yuan/ton respectively in the first quarter, up 43.2%, 54.4% and 456% year-on-year.  

In terms of exports, China exported 1.628 million tons of unwrought aluminum and aluminum materials in the first quarter, up 26.7% year-on-year, and the export amount was 6.48 billion US dollars, up 65% year-on-year.  In terms of imports, copper concentrate was imported 6.35 million tons in the first quarter, up 6.7% year-on-year, and the import amount was 13.83 billion US dollars, up 12.7% year-on-year.  The import of unwrought copper and copper materials was 1.473 million tons, up 2.6% year on year, and the import value was $12.17 billion, up 22.2% year on year.  

• Note: the source is from chemnet.