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Interface News Reporter | Gao Jing
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Last year, the performance of lithium companies generally improved.
According to incomplete statistics from Interface News, among the seven lithium mining and lithium salt companies that have disclosed their annual reports so far, five reported a year-on-year increase in net profit. Among them, Ganfeng Lithium (002460.SZ) and Tianqi Lithium (002466.SZ), known as the &#34;lithium industry dual giants,&#34; both saw their net profit growth exceed 100%, turning losses into profits.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/O62v8uc1cN4_OczP4-kYVjsM-pZeyCcZ0S_YL-JmMoy90AA/641?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/O62v8uc1cN4_OczP4-kYVjsM-pZeyCcZ0S_YL-JmMoy90AA/641"/> Chart: Gao Jing
Last year, Ganfeng Lithium achieved a net profit of 1.613 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 177.77%; Tianqi's net profit increased by 105.85% year-on-year to 463 million yuan.
In 2025, global lithium prices are expected to show a trend of initial suppression followed by a rebound and a fluctuating recovery at the end of the year.
In the first half of the year, the supply side remained loose, with Jiangxi mica mines maintaining full production, an increase in overseas lithium mine returns, and lithium carbonate prices declining all the way, hitting a historical low of 59,000 yuan/ton by mid-year.
In the second half of the year, the situation began to reverse, with frequent supply-side disturbances such as &#34;anti-involution&#34; in the industry and issues with mining licenses in Jiangxi, coupled with a concentrated release of energy storage demand, leading to a gradual stabilization and rebound in lithium prices. By the end of the year, the main contract price for lithium carbonate futures reached around 120,000 yuan/ton.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/Op7mA-wP_LsbzN_NGdgFnqhNKfwuVSZ8SF4tUBoHjasxQAA/641?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/Op7mA-wP_LsbzN_NGdgFnqhNKfwuVSZ8SF4tUBoHjasxQAA/641"/> Image source: Ganfeng Lithium Annual Report
Ganfeng Lithium pointed out that under the influence of changes in the supply-demand pattern and fluctuations in the lithium product market, lithium product prices rebounded strongly after a continuous decline in the first half of the year, leading to an improvement in the company's operating performance year-on-year.
Tianqi Lithium stated that due to fluctuations in the lithium product market, the sales prices of the company's lithium products decreased compared to the same period last year. However, thanks to the significant reduction in the impact of pricing cycle mismatches, a substantial year-on-year increase in the performance of important joint venture company SQM, and the continuous strengthening of the Australian dollar, its performance situation improved.
However, further analysis reveals that the seemingly strong turnaround in performance for Ganfeng Lithium and Tianqi Lithium is actually supported by non-recurring gains and external investment income, and the true profitability still needs to be scrutinized.
According to the financial report, after deducting non-recurring gains and losses, Ganfeng Lithium reported a net loss of 385 million yuan last year. Its non-recurring income includes gains from the disposal of part of the equity of its subsidiary Shenzhen Yichu and income generated from joint ventures, as well as fair value changes from the increase in the stock price of its financial asset PLS.
Tianqi Lithium's significant turnaround was based on an investment income of 665 million yuan from joint venture company SQM. The company's main sources of income—lithium mining and lithium compounds and derivatives—both saw a decline in revenue last year.
Thus, it can be seen that although lithium product prices rebounded in the second half of last year, the &#34;lithium battery dual giants&#34; have not completely escaped the impact of increased product volume and falling prices
Similarly affected are Chengxin Lithium (002240.SZ) and Tianhua Xinneng (300390.SZ).
Chengxin Lithium is the only company in this statistics that reported a loss, with a loss of 888 million yuan in 2025, an increase of 42.87% compared to the previous year's loss.
Chengxin Lithium stated that the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate in 2025 was 75,500 yuan/ton, a decrease of 16.54% compared to the previous year's average price.
&#34;Due to the significant market recovery concentrated at the end of the year, the sustained low-price market in the first half of the year put considerable pressure on the overall production operations and performance for the year,&#34; Chengxin Lithium said.
During the same period, Tianhua Xinneng's net profit fell by 51.77% to 402 million yuan. The company pointed out that the penetration rate of new energy vehicles continues to rise, the energy storage industry is rapidly developing, driving continuous growth in lithium resource demand, while also attracting a large influx of capital into the new energy lithium battery materials industry, with new production capacity gradually being released and industry competition becoming increasingly fierce.
Yinhu Lake Co., Ltd. (000792.SZ) and Cangge Mining (000408.SZ) saw significant growth in net profit last year. The former achieved a net profit of 8.476 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 81.76%; the latter's net profit reached 3.852 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 49.32%.
Both companies share a common characteristic: their main sources of income are not lithium products.
Yinhu Lake's main source of income is potassium products, which contributed 77.61% of its revenue. Cangge Mining's main source of income is potassium chloride, which accounted for 82.45% of its total revenue.
The revenue share of lithium products in both companies is less than 20%, having a limited impact on overall revenue. Moreover, both companies also experienced a year-on-year decline in revenue from lithium products.
Rongjie Co., Ltd. (002192.SZ) primarily produces lithium concentrate, battery-grade lithium salts, and lithium battery equipment. The significant increase in the production and sales of lithium concentrate products is one of the main reasons for the year-on-year increase in the company's operating revenue and profit.
Rongjie Co., Ltd. achieved revenue of 767 million yuan from lithium concentrate products last year, a year-on-year increase of 92.54%, contributing 91.25% of the company's revenue.
The gross profit margin of this business segment is as high as 53.12%, mainly because Rongjie Co., Ltd. fully self-supplies the main raw material, spodumene ore, from its own mines, producing lithium concentrate after mining and beneficiation processes, which enhances cost control.
The lithium concentrate produced by Tianqi Lithium mainly comes from its Greenbushes spodumene mine in Australia, and is mined and produced into lithium concentrate by its subsidiary Talison. Therefore, the gross profit margin of the company's lithium products is also as high as 52.88%.
Since 2026, the increase in lithium prices has expanded, with the latest data from Shanghai Steel Union showing that on April 1, the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was reported at 161,400 yuan/ton, an increase of nearly 40% compared to the beginning of the year.
CITIC Securities' research report pointed out that since the beginning of this year, the pace of overseas lithium mine resumption has accelerated, and resource supply growth may speed up in 2026. However, compared to the explosive growth on the demand side, the supply response still seems weak, and the high prosperity of battery demand and the continuous decline in industry chain inventory are expected to continue supporting lithium prices
In addition, CITIC Securities pointed out that positive signals are frequently emerging in the current industry, with behaviors such as purchase agreements with agreed floor prices, lithium concentrate auctions, and sales of low-grade lithium products validating the confidence of the supply chain in future lithium prices. &#34;We maintain our lithium price forecast range for 2026 at 120,000-200,000 yuan/ton and suggest paying attention to the price upside risks brought by additional supply disturbances.&#34;
An unnamed analyst told Jiemian News that under the current Middle East conflict situation, lithium batteries will directly benefit, &#34;With high oil prices, people's willingness to buy electric vehicles increases; at the same time, global energy diversification leads to a continuous influx of energy storage orders.&#34;
Against the backdrop of the lithium industry gradually emerging from the bottom, whether various enterprises can truly internalize external promoting factors into profitability remains to be seen over time

002240

01772

002466

09696

002460

The performance of lithium companies shows significant differentiation, with Ganfeng Lithium and Tianqi Lithium doubling their net profits last year, increasing by 177.77% and 105.85% respectively. However, Chengxin Lithium is still in the red. Lithium prices experienced fluctuations, dropping to a historical low at one point during the year, and then gradually stabilizing due to changes in supply and demand and a rebound in energy storage demand. Although the performance of the two companies appears strong, the impact of non-recurring gains and losses and external investment income needs to be examined, as Ganfeng Lithium still reported a loss of 385 million yuan after deducting non-recurring gains and losses

腾讯新闻 - 财经

Chengxin Lithium

GANFENGLITHIUM

TIANQI LITHIUM

Ganfeng Lithium

Lithium companies' performance differentiation: The "lithium battery duo" doubled their net profit last year, while Chengxin Lithium is still in the red