HK Stock Market Move | Lithium mining stocks rise again, market has divergent views on lithium carbonate inventory levels, institutions predict that the tight supply-demand situation will not reverse in the short term.

Lithium mining stocks rose again. As of the time of writing, Ganfeng Lithium Group (01772) rose by 6.27% to 61.95 Hong Kong dollars; Tianqi Lithium Corporation (09696) rose by 5.01% to 46.96 Hong Kong dollars. On the news front, it was recently reported online that data traders have significantly reduced their inventories, and lithium carbonate futures have returned to above 170,000 yuan. This morning, the main lithium carbonate contract rose again, up more than 3% as of the time of writing, at 177,560 yuan/ton. According to Zhongdax Futures, some traders re-counted their inventories yesterday and found that the weekly reduction exceeded 5,000 tons, while the data released by SMM in the afternoon was a decrease of 850 tons in the original sample and a decrease of 1,300 tons in the large sample. There is a huge difference between the two sets of data, which is expected to be due to differences in statistical methods. Currently, the recent changes in the market in the past two weeks are all results of the market speculation surrounding warehouse receipts and demand issues, with more of a rebound from oversold conditions seen during the week. CITIC Securities previously pointed out that in the first quarter of this year, the output of major overseas lithium resource projects slightly decreased, while the price increase expanded. Stimulated by the sharp rise in lithium prices, overseas lithium mines have begun to resume and expand production, but uncertainty remains due to the ramping up of production capacity and the strengthening of lithium resource development control in several countries in Africa. Since May of this year, demand concerns and inventory changes have suppressed lithium prices, but it is expected that the tense supply-demand situation will not reverse in the short term, and lithium prices are likely to strengthen in the second half of this year, maintaining a target price forecast of 250,000 yuan/ton.