What are the prospects for lithium extraction from Qinghai's salt lakes? Downstream manufacturers are best positioned to answer this question. According to Ma Guifu, secretary of the board of directors of Guoxuan High-Tech, a leading power lithium-ion battery manufacturer, lithium carbonate accounts for approximately 30% to 40% of the cost of cathode materials, which in turn account for 25% to 30% of the total battery cost.
Ma Guifu stated that in the past, Qinghai Salt Lake was not favored by the industry due to its high magnesium-to-lithium ratio, numerous impurities, and immature lithium extraction technology. However, influenced by the development of new energy vehicles, the domestic price of lithium carbonate has remained high, and lithium extraction from Qinghai Salt Lake has gradually been "re-recognized" by the industry.
In 2017, Guoxuan High-Tech visited companies such as Lanke Lithium and Guoan Lithium. "We believe that lithium extraction from Qinghai Salt Lake is a promising future direction, and production is expected to be released in 2018 and 2019," Ma Guifu said.
While showing great interest in lithium extraction from salt lakes, Guoxuan High-Tech has not yet used lithium products extracted from Qinghai salt lakes. It has also been revealed that Guoxuan High-Tech recently received cooperation intentions from companies using lepidolite for lithium extraction; some companies using lepidolite to extract lithium carbonate hope to supply Guoxuan High-Tech. Ma Guifu stated that if breakthroughs are indeed achieved in salt lake and lepidolite lithium extraction technologies, the supply of lithium carbonate will surge, and the price of lithium carbonate is expected to subsequently decline.
"In the past two years, the profit margins of the power lithium-ion battery industry have generally been squeezed from both ends. Whether the cost of raw materials such as lithium carbonate can be reduced in the future will be crucial to the company's development," Ma Guifu told the Shanghai Securities News reporter. He added that if breakthroughs can be achieved in lithium extraction technology from Qinghai salt lakes, lower-priced battery-grade lithium carbonate will be obtained, resulting in a significant cost advantage. This will further enhance the competitiveness of cathode material and battery companies and promote the popularization of new energy vehicles.
Furthermore, the National Energy Administration and other relevant ministries have successively released documents such as the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of Energy Storage Technology and Industry" and the "Implementation Methods for Solving the Problems of Abandoned Hydropower, Wind Power, and Solar Power," giving battery manufacturers such as Guoxuan High-Tech and BYD a broader blue ocean market. Ma Guifu stated that, according to relevant documents, by 2020, my country's energy storage industry will transition from R&D demonstration to commercialization. If energy storage industry policies are further promoted, it will be another major boon to the battery market. According to data from GGII (Gaogong Lithium Battery Research Institute), lithium-ion batteries account for the largest share of installed capacity in the domestic photovoltaic and wind power energy storage sectors, with a market share exceeding 60%.
Ma Guifu believes that significantly reducing battery costs is one of the prerequisites for large-scale expansion in the energy storage field. Since the energy storage field has a large demand for batteries, whether the cost of key raw materials such as lithium carbonate can be reduced will be crucial.
