Lithium carbonate prices in China declined to CNY 170,000 per tonne from a two-year high of CNY 200,500 reached on May 13th, as the previous surge encouraged producers to resume mining operations. Mineral Resources announced it will restart production at its Bald Hill lithium mine after an 18‑month suspension, while Core Lithium has resumed activity at its Finniss project, helping to offset supply shortfalls elsewhere.
On the policy front, Zimbabwe introduced export quotas on lithium concentrates and will implement a full export ban starting next year. The authorities stated that exports of processed lithium will still be permitted in order to attract investment into domestic processing capacity.
On the demand side, fresh data from China showed that output of new energy vehicles—the main source of lithium demand because of their batteries—rose 5.5% year-on-year to 1.32 million units, while sales increased 9.7% to 1.34 million units. Demand was further underpinned by China’s investment in power infrastructure, reinforced by Beijing’s recent pledge to double national EV charging capacity to 180 gigawatts by 2027.
