\n China\u2019s lithium prices surged on Thursday after Zimbabwe suspended all raw mineral exports, raising concerns about potential supply disruptions amid growing demand for energy storage.\n <\/p>\n
\n Lithium, often called \u201cwhite gold,\u201d is a key component in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy storage systems.\n <\/p>\n
\n On the Guangzhou Futures Exchange, the most traded lithium carbonate contract jumped 6.07% to 178,020 yuan ($26,043) per metric ton as of 03:30 GMT, after earlier spiking more than 9% to 187,700 yuan, Reuters reported.\n <\/p>\n
\n Zimbabwe\u2019s export ban, announced Wednesday, covers all raw minerals and lithium concentrates. As Africa\u2019s largest lithium producer, the country shipped 1.128 million tons of spodumene concentrate in 2025, up 11% from 2024, with most exports going to China.\n <\/p>\n
\n Chinese companies such as Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Sinomine have invested heavily in the country\u2019s lithium sector in recent years.\n <\/p>\n
Africa\u2019s first lithium sulphate plant<\/p>\n
\n The move comes as Zimbabwe seeks greater control over its natural resources. Earlier this month, the country announced it will inaugurate Africa\u2019s first lithium sulphate plant.\n <\/p>\n
\n The project, led by Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe (PLZ) and financed by Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, has now reached the equipment commissioning phase.\n <\/p>\n
\n Once operational, the plant will have an annual production capacity of more than 60,000 metric tons of lithium sulphate.\n <\/p>\n
\n The sudden export suspension has intensified concerns over the stability of raw material supplies, just as surging demand for energy storage systems has driven a strong rally in lithium prices since mid-2025.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"China\u2019s lithium prices surged on Thursday after Zimbabwe suspended all raw mineral exports, raising concerns about potential supply…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-303365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}