China's lithium carbonate imports and lithium hydroxide exports continued to grow in January-April, and electric vehicle (EV) sales in China and abroad maintained steady growth
Driven by increased demand from major downstream industries, China's lithium carbonate imports and lithium hydroxide exports continued to grow in January-April. According to customs data, China imported 62,241 tons of lithium carbonate in January-April, an increase of 24% over the previous year. Chile is China's largest supplier of lithium carbonate, accounting for 78% of China's total imports, followed by Argentina with 20% and South Korea with 1.1%.
From January to April, China exported 41,876 tons of lithium hydroxide, up 3.9% year on year. South Korea was China's largest importer of lithium hydroxide during the same period, accounting for 69% of China's total exports, followed by Japan with 27% and Sweden with 1.5%.
According to research data from the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT), shipments of 5G phones in China reached 56.433 million units in January-March, an increase of 9.6% over the previous year. These accounted for 84% of China's total mobile phone shipments of 674.15 million units during the same period.
US-based market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that global smartphone shipments in 2024 will increase 2.8% from 120 million units in 2023. The company also predicts that shipments of next-generation AI smartphones will reach 170 million units this year, more than double that of last year, accounting for nearly 15% of total smartphone shipments.
In recent years, sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in China and abroad have maintained steady growth, which has boosted the demand for lithium salts. Argus predicts that by 2024, global demand for lithium will reach 1.24 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent, an increase of 21% over the previous year. Argus expects global electric vehicle sales to increase from 14.96 million units in 2023 to 19.13 million units in 2024, compared to 10.92 million units in 2022.
(The above content comes from the latest opinion of Argus, an independent international energy and commodity price assessment agency)