(Yicai Global) Jan. 20 -- Tianqi Lithium and other Chinese lithium miners expect profits to have soared last year following a surge in prices of the material used in electric car batteries.

Net profit at Tianqi Lithium probably skyrocketed between 1,000 percent and 1,100 percent to somewhere from CNY23.1 billion to CNY25.6 billion (USD3.4 billion to USD3.8 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, China's biggest lithium extractor said on Jan. 18.

The Chengdu-based firm attributed the gain to increased sales and a jump in the prices of its main lithium products. The price increases were the result of accelerated capacity expansion at lithium-ion battery makers and the growth of the global new energy vehicles market, it said.

Prices of lithium carbonate, a precursor to the lithium compounds used in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric cars, surged in 2022, with domestic battery-grade lithium carbonate ending the year at an average of CNY525,000 (USD77,450) a ton, up 86 percent from the start of the year.

Global shipments of lithium-ion batteries climbed to 957.7 gigawatt-hours in 2022, 69 percent of which came from China, according to a report by think tank China Yiwei Institute of Economics. 

Other Chinese lithium miners have also come out with upbeat predictions on 2022 earnings. On the same day that Tianqi Lithium made its announcement, lithium salts producer Yahua Industrial Group said it expected annual net profit to have jumped in a range of 380 percent and 400 percent to between CNY4.5 billion and CNY4.7 billion (USD664 million and USD694 million).

Qinghai Salt Lake Industry's net profit likely rose 230 percent to 250 percent to between CNY15 billion and CNY15.6 billion (USD2.2 billion and USD2.3 billion), the potash giant said on Jan. 12. And yesterday, Chengxin Lithium Group, a supplier of electric car battery materials, said it expected a 530 percent to 580 percent surge in profit to between CNY5.4 billion and CNY5.8 billion.

Lithium salt prices are expected to steady around the end of next month after falling recently, according to a research report published by Huaxi Securities. A new global rivalry for resources is unfolding, spotlighting the competition between firms with a guaranteed supply of upstream materials, the report added.

Lithium is a key metal on the path of new energy development, indispensable in transport electrification, energy storage, and other fields, the brokerage noted.

Shenzhen-based Chengxin Lithium said prices of salt products also soared last year, adding that its plant with an annual capacity of 30,000 tons of lithium salt has gone into operation.

Editor: Martin Kadiev