中國的鋰業調查聚焦儲量和 ESG 風險 (1/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

China Lithium Probe Puts Spotlight on Reserves and ESG Risks (1/2)

Annie Lee

Thu, March 9, 2023 at 8:46 p.m. PST

(Bloomberg) -- If it’s grown, drilled or dug up, chances are there’s not enough of it in China.

Beijing’s ability to manage the mismatch between its scarce natural resources and vast industrial output is now playing out in the market for lithium, a mineral crucial to the world’s transition away from fossil fuels. It’s an effort complicated by skyrocketing prices, geopolitical tensions and the environmental devastation that can be wrought by a pell-mell approach to extraction.

China is the world’s biggest producer of new energy vehicles but holds only a modest slice of global reserves of lithium, used in the batteries that power electric cars. In that regard, lithium is of apiece with many of the commodities foundational to a modern economy — think crude oil for fuel, iron ore to make steel, or soybeans to feed pigs — where China is overly reliant on foreign supplies for its often world-beating production.

A government inspection last month, which has shuttered some producers at a lithium mining hub in eastern China, is a clear signal that Beijing is turning its attention to better marshaling its domestic resources of the mineral, against a backdrop of record prices and short supply across the globe.

Lithium producers in Jiangxi province’s Yichun city were targeted for environmental infringements and unlicensed mining, according to local media, threatening around a tenth of global output. Of particular concern was the extraction of lepidolite, a lithium-bearing rock often overlooked as lower-quality. The crackdown could signal that even lepidolite is now emerging as a key resource that officials are keen to preserve.

“Due to the mammoth growth of lithium prices over the past two years, there has been an increased interest in capturing and exploring lithium resources within domestic shores,” said Leah Chen, an analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Like many other metals, China is central to the supply chain, housing over half of the world’s refining capacity but relying on imports for about two-thirds of the raw material. According to the US Geological Survey, it accounts for 8% of the world’s reserves, which are mostly held in an igneous rock called spodumene. Saltwater lakes are another key source.

Lithium prices hit an all-time high last year as booming demand for electric vehicles outstripped production. Despite a drop of over 40% from its November peak, lithium carbonate, a refined version of the metal, is still eight times more expensive in China than it was in 2020.

It’s the kind of circumstance that often tempts miners to skirt regulations in the pursuit of big rewards. That can deplete reserves too quickly, put the environment at risk and could ultimately rebound on buyers in the autos industry if they run afoul of increasingly stringent ESG rules adopted by investors.

(to be continued)

（彭博社）- 如果它是被種植、鑽探或挖掘，很可能在中國是不夠的。

北京管理其稀缺自然資源的能力,與其巨大工業產出之間的不匹配, 正在鋰市場上展現出來，鋰是一種對世界擺脫化石燃料至關重要的礦物。 由於價格飛漲、地緣政治緊張局勢, 以及拼湊的開採方法可能造成的環境破壞，使這項管理工作變得複雜起來。

中國是世界上最大的新能源汽車生產國，但僅擁有全球鋰儲量的一小部分，鋰被用於為電動汽車提供動力的電池。 在這方面，鋰與現代經濟的許多基礎大宗商品相同類 - 想想用作燃料的原油，煉鋼的鐵礦石，或用來餵豬的大豆 - 而中國的世界級生產在這方面過度依賴外國供應。

上個月政府檢查中, 關閉了中國東部鋰礦開採中心的一些生產商，這是一個明確的信號，表明在全球價格創紀錄且供應短缺的背景下，北京正在將注意力轉向更好地整理國內礦產資源。

據當地媒體報導，江西省宜春市的鋰生產商因違反環境規定和無證開採而成為目標，威脅到全球產量的十分之一左右。 特別值得關注的是鋰雲母的提取，鋰雲母是一種經常被輕視為質量較低的含鋰岩石。 打擊行動可能表明，即使是鋰雲母現在也正在成為官員們熱衷於保護的重要資源。

S&P Global Commodity Insights 的分析師 Leah Chen 表示： “由於過去兩年鋰價格的大幅上漲，人們對在國內獲取和勘探鋰資源的興趣增加了。”

與許多其他金屬一樣，中國是供應鏈的核心，擁有全球一半以上的煉油能力，但約三分之二的原材料依賴進口。 根據美國地質調查局的數據，它佔世界儲量的 8%，其中大部分儲藏在一種叫做鋰輝石的火成岩中。 鹹水湖是另一個重要來源。

由於對電動汽車的需求旺盛超過了產量，去年鋰價創下歷史新高。 儘管從 11 月的峰值下降了 40% 以上，但精煉的碳酸鋰在中國的價格仍然是 2020 年的 8 倍。

這種情況經常會誘使礦工為了獲得豐厚的回報而規避監管。 這可能會過快耗盡儲備，使環境面臨風險，如果違反投資者所採用的日益嚴格的 ESG 規則，汽車行業的買家最終可能會有反彈。

（待續）