On the morning of December 15, Lu Jiayi and Shi Lingfeng, Business Managers of Hangzhou CIEC Resource Co., Ltd., visited Asian Metal and had exchanged opinions with Carol Lin, an analyst for cobalt & lithium markets of Asian Metal.
The two parties mainly exchanged opinions on lithium salt market of 2018 and downstream demand situation. Carol Lin introduced Hangzhou CIEC to the expectation that both production capacity and output in lithium salt market will increase in 2018, while the increase amount of lithium extracting from ore will be mainly released in the second half of 2018. There will be new Australian origin ore (raw ore) entering into Chinese market from H1 2018.
The current domestic new energy vehicles development is still mainly policy-oriented, and new energy subsidy policy adjustment in the fourth quarter requires higher for energy density, while some lithium iron phosphate plants which could not meet the energy density requirement halt production or cut output, so lithium prices picked up in short time. But in the long run, whether or not consumption supporting facilities for new energy vehicles can keep up with demand is the main factor restricting the development of new energy vehicle.