Cailianshe September 18 (Editor Liu Yue) After 5 months, the price of lithium carbonate returned to the 500,000 yuan/ton mark. The lithium mining company made a lot of money. Keda Manufacturing, which mainly engages in building materials machinery and overseas construction ceramics , revealed that the stake company Lanke Lithium's net profit in the first half of the year was 3.7 billion , bringing the company 1 investment income of 1.8 billion yuan. Transforming lithium batteries has become the most popular choice for ceramic companies with overcapacity.
Huatai Securities analyst Fang Yanhe reported on September 14 that overcapacity of construction ceramics is an important factor restricting the industry's medium- and long-term growth. "China Ceramic Tile Capacity Survey Report" shows that the capacity utilization rate of ceramic tiles in my country is relatively low, and the capacity utilization rate of ceramic tiles in the country in 2020 was 68.89%. In 2021, there were 1,048 large-scale construction ceramic enterprises nationwide, a decrease of 112/45 compared with 2019/2020. Small and medium-sized enterprises continued to clear out under the pressure of energy consumption indicators and industry demand.
CITIC Securities analyst Sun Mingxin and others pointed out on September 14 that as the demand for real estate declines, the prices of raw fuel in and are high, the operation of traditional ceramic business is under pressure and the industry is at the bottom. The economic benefits of converting lithium slag blanks in the short term are much better than those of producing ceramic tiles, and may create a new growth point . According to statistics from Taocheng News, as of September 9, a total of 116 pottery companies and 35 production lines of the two places in Yichun, Jiangxi Province, have passed the filing and approval of , with a total investment of 780 million yuan, and the annual production capacity of lithium slag powder totaled 9.12 million tons.
For listed companies, Sun Mingxin is optimistic about the leading ceramic tile companies with the possibility of extending to the relevant industrial chain: Mona Lisa, Dongpeng Holdings and Diou Home Furnishing . Public information shows that all three companies have a large capacity layout and energy consumption indicators in Jiangxi, the main production area of lithium ore, , and .
In the traditional lithium ore lithium extraction process, about 0.5% grade lithium oxide will be taken away by waste residue in the leaching lithium extraction, causing waste of resources. As the lithium price rises, waste residue containing lithium oxide in also has a higher lithium extraction value .
Since the kilns, equipment (ball mills, dryers, , etc.) used in the lithium slag calcination and extraction process are similar to the production of ceramic tile, it is easier to transform the production line. By renovating the ceramic production line (the amount of single kiln is about 10 million yuan), the solid waste lithium slag and coagulant of upstream lithium battery companies are roasted in the ceramic kiln in medium temperature, and then fired into lithium slag billets and returned to the lithium battery company for leaching lithium carbonate, so that while using waste resources can produce higher economic benefits .
Fang Yanhe pointed out that Jiangxi is the second largest architectural ceramic production area in the country, and the Gao'an base is developing rapidly. As of August 2022, Gaoan has a total of 56 ceramic companies and 176 production lines, with an annual production capacity of ceramic tiles exceeding 900 million square meters. According to ceramic information statistics, as of early September, 23 ceramic production lines upgraded lithium slag blank production line technical transformation projects in Gao'an, Jiangxi Province have passed the registration of , involving 10 ceramic companies including Jiangxi Jingcheng Ceramics, Gao'an Bode Ceramics, Jiangxi Jinli Ceramics, Jiangxi Ganhong Ceramics, Jiangxi Xinyang Ceramics, Jiangxi Roewe Ceramics, Jiangxi Mingrui Ceramics, Jiangxi Ruifuxiang Ceramics, Xinzhongying Ceramics, Jiangxi Porcelain General Ceramics, etc. The number of to be converted into production lines is close to 15% of the total production lines in Gao'an production area.
In addition, Jiangxi has unique lithium mineral resources. With the leading power battery companies such as BYD , CATL , Guoxuan Hi-Tech , etc., successively settled in Yichun , Jiangxi, the entire lithium battery industry chain has developed rapidly, improving the requirements for the scale and quality of lithium extraction. The solid waste lithium slag after lithium extraction is rich, and provides ceramic companies with rich raw materials for lithium slag blanks to convert.
GF Securities analyst Ju Guoxian released a research report on July 27, showing that the exploration of lithium-containing ceramic clay ore in Yichun, Jiangxi has made significant progress. According to the situation announced by Jiangxi State-owned Assets, the newly discovered lithium content in the census since last year has reached 9.48 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent. Downstream enterprises are actively making arrangements and development is expected to accelerate. It is expected that by 2025, the lithium extraction output of lithium mica is expected to reach about 360,000 tons of LCE.
According to the environmental impact assessment report of some ceramic production lines for technical transformation to lithium slag blanks announced by Gao'an Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau, all of which promises that the production lines will not resume production of tiles in the future after the production lines are converted to lithium slag embryos. It is expected that there will be certain binding requirements for the conversion of tiles to lithium batteries at the policy level.
Fang Yanhe pointed out that many ceramic companies switched to lithium battery materials this time, and there were constraints on the return to ceramic production. It is expected to improve the situation of overcapacity in the ceramic industry to a certain extent, optimize the industry supply pattern, and under carbon neutrality, high-energy consumption enterprises in construction ceramics are expected to accelerate their exit, and the market share of leading enterprises in is expected to further increase .
It is worth noting that industry insiders analyzed that behind the hot investment in lithium batteries, the "gray rhino" of overcapacity of is also accelerating. In addition, the number of companies entering lithium batteries is increasing, the track is becoming increasingly crowded, and the competition is becoming increasingly fierce. For pottery companies, if they only make quick money by chasing the trend, they will only repeat the mistakes of the "rock slab fever" in the past two years and disappear in the iteration and upgrading of the market.
