China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) recently released details of the country's nickel, cobalt, and lithium industries during H1.

According to the announcement released on 5 August, during H1 2022, the total output of nickel and lithium increased on-year while that of cobalt had a slight decrease; the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was CNY 453,000 ($67,112.57)/tonne, an on-year increase of 454%, Kallanish learns. 

The MIIT thinks the continuous growth in nickel and lithium production volumes is due to the rapid development of the new energy industry. The demand for lithium carbonate products is expected to remain high during the second half of 2022. 

According to data from the General Administration of Customs, during H1 2022, import volume of nickel concentrate reached 15.1 million t, an on-year decline of 8.3%; import volume of electrolytic nickel was 83,000 t, an on-year decline of 3.7%; import volumes of cobalt concentrate and wet-method cobalt intermediate products reached 12,000 t, and 160,000 t respectively, an-year increases of 79.2% and 4%; and import volumes of lithium concentrate and lithium carbonate reached 1.162m t and 71,000 t, on-year increases of 13.5% and 66.5%. 

Prices of electrolytic nickel, metal cobalt, and battery-grade lithium carbonate fell 44.2%, 32.5% and 6.8%, respectively, from the highs in late June. 

During H1 2022, China's lithium hydroxide output reached 11,000 t, an on-year increase of 35%; nickel sulfate output increased 34.5% y-o-y; refined cobalt output was 58,000 t, an on-year decline of 6.9%, according to market data from Beijing Antaike.