HK Stock Market Move | Tianqi Lithium Corporation (09696) drops over 4%, Q3 net profit expected to decline quarter-on-quarter, lithium carbonate futures fall below the 100,000 mark.

Tianqi Lithium Corporation (09696) fell over 4%, touching HK$22.56, a pullback of more than 60% from its share price in May this year. As of press time, it was down 4.08% at HK$22.58, with a turnover of HK$82.0414 million. On the news front, Tianqi Lithium Corporation expects to achieve a net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company of RMB 5.1 billion to RMB 6 billion for the first three quarters of this year, a year-on-year increase of 2,734.97% to 3,235.26%. Based on estimates, the company's Q3 net profit is expected to be RMB 858 million to RMB 1.758 billion, a quarter-on-quarter decline of 25%-63%. Morgan Stanley attributed the quarter-on-quarter slowdown to falling lithium prices, down RMB 23,700 per tonne quarter-on-quarter, and noted that lithium prices are falling faster than spodumene, which may also affect processing margins in a downturn cycle. The bank expects this headwind to continue into the fourth quarter. Since the beginning of this year, lithium carbonate prices have experienced a "rollercoaster ride." At the start of the year, the main lithium carbonate futures contract began rising from around RMB 120,000/tonne; in May, driven by supply disruptions and rising expectations for downstream demand, it briefly broke through RMB 200,000/tonne during intraday trading. Subsequently, amid factors such as rising expectations for supply recovery, prices retreated again. As of press time, the main lithium carbonate contract has fallen below the RMB 100,000 mark.