Shares in the lithium battery sector experienced a broad decline. At the time of writing, CALB (03931) fell 7.4% to HK$28.3, Ganfeng Lithium Group Co.,Ltd. (01772) dropped 5.37% to HK$57.3, CATL (03750) decreased 5.21% to HK$737.5, and Tianqi Lithium Corporation (09696) was down 4.42% to HK$45.4.

The downturn follows news that Hunan Yuneng, a lithium iron phosphate material company, released a pre-disclosure notice regarding a shareholder reduction. Two major shareholders, each holding over 7%, CATL and Jinsheng New Materials, simultaneously announced plans for significant stake reductions. If the sales are fully executed, both holdings would fall below 5%. As a key downstream customer of Hunan Yuneng, CATL had participated in its capital increase and expansion as early as December 2020 and had committed to a 36-month lock-up period at the time of its IPO.

Market Analysis and Price Outlook

Analysis from CCB Futures indicates that with increased shipments of ore from Zimbabwe arriving at ports, production of lithium carbonate from spodumene is expected to accelerate in July. Domestically, salt lake production is entering its seasonal peak period, signaling the arrival of high supply pressure. However, on the demand side, as the June 30 grid-connection deadline for energy storage projects approaches, the earlier stockpiling demand from downstream battery cell manufacturers is anticipated to gradually taper off. With demand growth appearing weak, lithium carbonate futures prices are forecasted to trend downward in June.