On April 30, the two lithium industry giants listed in the Hong Kong stock market, Tianqi Lithium and Ganfeng Lithium, both performed strongly, with intraday gains of over 6% and 3%, respectively.
Tianqi Lithium achieved revenue of 5.128 billion yuan in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 98.44%. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company reached 1.876 billion yuan, surging by 1699.12% year-on-year, while non-recurring net profit skyrocketed by 3987.18%. Choice data shows that the company's gross margin in the first quarter climbed to 62.66%, increasing by 21.95 percentage points quarter-on-quarter, firmly ranking among the top in the industry.
Tianqi Lithium’s earnings explosion was driven by dual factors: the simultaneous rise in sales volume and prices of lithium products, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which significantly increased gross margins. Additionally, the substantial year-on-year growth in performance from its associate company SQM in Chile, along with the extreme cost advantages provided by its wholly-owned Greenbushes lithium mine in Australia (with 100% resource self-sufficiency), allowed the company to fully benefit from the upward cycle.
Another company, Ganfeng Lithium, successfully turned losses into profits in the first quarter. Due to rising prices and volumes of lithium series products and lithium battery series products, the company achieved revenue of 9.196 billion yuan, an increase of 143.81% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 1.837 billion yuan, compared with a loss of 356 million yuan in the same period last year, reversing the loss to profitability.
Recently, the futures price of lithium carbonate on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange rose above 180,000 yuan. As of press time, the main lithium carbonate contract for September 2026 increased by more than 3%, reaching 185,500 yuan per ton. Data shows that China’s energy storage lithium battery shipments reached 215GWh in the first quarter of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 139%; leading companies have production orders scheduled until the end of 2026 to the second quarter of 2027. Additionally, there is an expectation of tight supply. In the previous week, Greenbushes, the world's largest hard-rock lithium mine, revised its production guidance downward. Meanwhile, export restrictions on lithium concentrate from Zimbabwe and shipping disruptions in Australia further heightened concerns about the supply capacity of lithium mines.
Notably, UBS Group significantly raised its lithium price forecast, stating that this cycle is fundamentally different from previous ones. Lachlan Shaw, an analyst at UBS Securities, noted that this cycle features three key demand-side drivers – stronger energy storage, improved economics for electric vehicles, and accelerating penetration of electric trucks in China – while the supply side, although responsive, will not catch up as quickly. On the pricing table, near-term forecasts for 6% Li2O spodumene concentrate were raised by up to 23%, with long-term prices increasing by 17% to USD 1,400 per ton. Mid-term forecasts for battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide were increased by 17%-47%, but long-term prices remained unchanged.
Editor/joryn