B[Lithium Industry Branch: National lithium carbonate production fell by 2.5% month-on-month in August] September 21, according to statistics from the Lithium Industry Branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, in August, the national lithium carbonate production was approximately 96,000 tons, a month-on-month decrease of 2.5%; the national lithium hydroxide production was approximately 33,000 tons, a month-on-month increase of 2.5%. National lithium salt production equivalent to lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) was approximately 125,000 tons, a month-on-month decrease of 1.4%. The decline in output is mainly due to the fact that the arrival of Zimbabwe's lithium mines at the port is less than expected, and some of the company's production lines have been suspended for maintenance. B[CATL plans to build a new 40,000 tons annual lithium carbonate production capacity in Ya'an at a cost of 1.4 billion yuan. Lithium prices have corrected by more than 20% in September.] On September 17, the Ya'an Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Committee recently released the first public announcement of the environmental impact assessment information of the Ya'an lithium salt production base project of CATL. The total investment of the project is 1.4 billion yuan, and it is planned to build an annual production capacity of approximately 40,000 tons of lithium carbonate, 30,000 tons of lithium dihydrogen phosphate and 130,000 tons of lithium dihydrogen phosphate. What is currently released is only the first public disclosure of ecological environmental impact assessment information, which means that the project is still in the early stage of environmental impact assessment information disclosure. The announcement did not disclose the construction period, funding sources, raw material supply plan and expected production time, nor does it mean that the project has obtained environmental impact assessment approval or officially started construction. (Mijing.com) B[Lithium carbonate futures price has fallen sharply, and the industry chain is under pressure and short-term supply and demand are expected to maintain a tight balance] September 17th, entering September, the lithium carbonate market, which should have ushered in the traditional "Golden September and Silver October" peak season, has gone out of a unilateral downward trend, driving the stock prices of listed companies in the lithium mining sector to weaken simultaneously. On September 16, the price of the main domestic lithium carbonate futures contract once fell to 124,020 yuan/ton, a cumulative decline of more than 20% since September. Going back to May this year, the price of the main domestic lithium carbonate futures contract once reached a maximum of around 210,000 yuan/ton. In just four months, it fell by more than 40%, basically flattening the year's gains. During the interview, the reporter learned that this round of decline in lithium carbonate prices was affected by market news such as rumors of lower production schedules by leading battery manufacturers, switching of inventory statistics, or adjustments to overly optimistic expectations in the early stage. Of course, there are also views that the Federal Reserve's expectations for interest rate hikes and the market's pessimistic expectations for forward demand are also influencing factors. Industry insiders believe that the current market demand is at a high level and lithium carbonate will still maintain a tight balance between supply and demand in the short term. Subsequent price trends require close observation of terminal demand, inventory changes and the release of new production capacity. (Securities Times) B[Report: 200 newly discovered non-oil and gas mineral locations in China in 2025, including 16 gold mines] September 11th, at the 2026 China International Mining Conference held in Tianjin on the 11th, the Ministry of Natural Resources released the "China Mineral Resources Report (2026)". The report shows that in 2025, China’s geological exploration investment will see positive growth for the fifth consecutive year, and mineral prospecting will continue to make important progress. There were 200 newly discovered non-oil and gas mineral deposits across the country, including 63 large, 57 medium and 80 small. Among them, the minerals with the highest number of newly discovered mineral sites are gold mines (16 sites), iron mines (11 sites), coal mines (9 sites), manganese mines (8 sites) and lithium mines (8 sites).
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