HK Stock Market Move | Lithium battery concept stocks collectively decline, Australian lithium mine Bald Hill announces restart plan; institutions pay attention to downstream acceptance of high prices.

Lithium battery concept stocks collectively trend lower, as of the time of writing, Ganfeng Lithium Group (01772) dropped by 5.49%, closing at 69.75 Hong Kong dollars; Jiangsu Lopal Tech. Group (02465) fell by 5.18%, closing at 15.37 Hong Kong dollars; Tianqi Lithium Corporation (09696) dropped by 4.42%, closing at 51.9 Hong Kong dollars; Contemporary Amperex Technology (03750) dropped by 3.56%, closing at 650.5 Hong Kong dollars. In terms of news, Australian MinRes announced that, due to the significant and sustained rise in lithium prices, its Bald Hill lithium mine, which it owns 100%, will restart operations. On-site operations will gradually increase starting from late May, with crushing and mining operations starting in June, and the first batch of lithium spodumene concentrate production beginning in July. The first batch of lithium spodumene concentrate is expected to be shipped from Esperance Port in the first quarter of the 2027 fiscal year, reaching full production in the second quarter. Huaxi pointed out that it is necessary to pay attention to whether downstream acceptance of prices above 20,000 yuan/ton can further open up, as well as the true reaction of energy storage terminals to current lithium prices. The current market is in a critical period of verifying the "price signal transmission to downstream", and it can only be determined if downstream acceptance of the current high prices is real when current prices effectively penetrate the actual purchasing process of battery cell and integration factories. It is expected that lithium prices will maintain a high-level fluctuation in the short term. It is also expected that lithium ore prices will follow the movement of lithium carbonate prices in the short term.