Lithium Metal was used abroad in battery industry, ceramic industry, glass industry, aluminum industry, lubricant, refrigerant, nuclear industry, optoelectronic industry and other new application area. From the lithium metal application area in Year 2006, the use of battery industry, lubricant and ceramic industry accounts for 21.4%, 16.54% and 12.65% respectively. Because lithium carbonate is the basic material of producing secondary lithia and lithium metal, so lithium carbonate is the most important product in lithium industry and other industrial lithium products are the downstream products of lithium carbonate.

 

　　At present, the global market capacity of lithium carbonate is about 90,000 tons. Seeing from the annals statistic of inorganic salt in Asia, the demand for lithium carbonate all over the world in Year 2006 reaches 83,800 tons and the supply reaches 8,500 tons, so it is thus clear that the supply and demand of lithium carbonate in Year 2006 is quite in balance. According to the prediction of our research center, the demand for lithium carbonate all over the world in Year 2007 will exceed 90,000 tons, with the increasing rate of about 8%. In three to five years, the global demand for lithium will increase at the rate of 5% to 7%, which will exceed the growth level of the global economy, showing that the global lithium industry is a strong GDP industry. Considering the development of lithium battery in power cell area and the upsurge of consuming the electronic products, we think these basic conditions will provide the beneficial support to the annual growth rate of 8% of the global lithium carbonate demand.

　　Though having the high value resource of salt lake, till Year 2004 our country had obtained the key technical breakthrough of extracting lithium carbonate from the Laolu solution with high magnesium and low potassium, and be able to entry the global lithium carbonate market. The present produce capacity of lithium carbonate in our country is only 3,300 tons. From 2008 to 2010, there will be 4,500 tons of production capacity releasing successively. As our country’s lithium carbonate is the main region of global produce capacity release, which will have an important influence to the supply pattern of global lithium carbonate. Seeing from the present global business, the market focus on, the global main produce capacity is concentrating in the three company of SQM, FMC and Chemetall, which’s produce capacity account for 73% of the global produce capacity. Because the enterprise producing lithium carbonate in scale should have the exploitation right of salt lake that contains the abundant lithium resource, this industry has rather high resource barrier; On the other hand, because most resources of the global salt lake are high magnesium and low potassium, and the technology of extracting and separating lithium carbonate from the Laolu solution with high magnesium and low potassium is quite difficult and this technology is held by the few foreign company before, all these make the lithium carbonate industry has the technology barrier. As a result, there forms the global oligarch monopoly pattern in the lithium carbonate industry. With the big lithium carbonate items in our country putting onto production successively, the status of supply and demand in balance in the lithium carbonate industry will be deteriorated rapidly. There will be 13,200 tons of lithium carbonate surplus in Year 2007 and this will be further deteriorated in Year 2008. The supply exceeds the demand greatly will lead to the price quickly fall down.

 

Table : Import&Export Price List of Lithium Carbonate during January-May,2007

Sources: Huajing Viewpoint Research Center

Table : Price Trend of Lithium Carbonate during January-May,2007

　　Sources: Huajing Viewpoint Research Center

　　The research report of industry investment and market analysis of Chinese lithium carbonate industry in Year 2007 mainly analyzes the production, sale, market, price, product’s structure, degree of concentration, competition status of lithium carbonate industry and the competition information of the national enterprise’s operation and survival. And at the same time, it analyzes the main factors influencing the lithium carbonate industry, the competition pattern and development trend in domestic and foreign market. The report also collects the up to date table and research data of hundreds of industries in Year 2006 and 2007, which aims at providing the insight opportunities and adjustment of operational policy for the lithium carbonate enterprise and providing the exact information and scientific decision-making basis for the industry investor to choose the investment strategy.