The 6-day and 5-night "Battle for Lithium" ended, and the shortage of lithium resources became more and more prominent
Securities Daily reporter Li Chunlian and Cao Weixin
From 3.35 million yuan to 2 billion yuan, Snowway Mining's equity auction ended, and the "Lithium Grab War" that lasted for 6 days and 5 nights finally came to an end.
The bidding price reached nearly 600 times the starting price. For this sky-high price, market participants called it "crazy".
According to information on the Jingdong auction platform, at 7:48 on May 21, the buyer of Snowway Mining's 54.29% stake was Tan Wei.
Who is the mystery buyer Tan Wei?
Is it related to the "GCL series" that has been highly popular in the market before?
"The buyer is the real name in the auction confirmation, and the ID number and Jingdong account are not fully displayed, only part of the content is displayed. After the auction is successful, the Jingdong platform will charge a technical service fee of 0.5% of the transaction price, and a single target technology The upper limit of the service fee amount is 500,000 yuan." On May 22, the customer service staff of the Jingdong auction platform told the "Securities Daily" reporter.
In addition, the "Securities Daily" reporter also learned that the "GCL" company also participated in the auction. Before that, many voices in the market believed that the GCL company might become the winner of this auction.
On May 22, the reporter called GCL Nengke, and the relevant staff of the company told the reporter, "The company is in the process of verification and will reply as soon as possible if there is confirmation." However, as of press time, the reporter has not received a reply from the company.
"Battle for Lithium" attracts millions of onlookers
From May 16 to May 21, the Snowway Mining Equity Auction attracted 21 bidders, with a total of 3,448 bids, and nearly one million people watched. The scene can be described as spectacular.
"A transaction process will be agreed in the bidding announcement, including how the other party will pay the remaining amount, registration of equity changes, etc." Wang Zhibin, a lawyer from Shanghai Minglun Law Firm, said in an interview with a reporter from "Securities Daily".
According to the bidding announcement, after the bidding is completed, the deposit originally locked by the bidder of the subject matter will be automatically transferred to the account designated by the administrator.
The buyer should pay the balance of the auction transaction price (the balance after deducting the deposit) into the account designated by the manager, Chengdu Xingneng New Materials Co., Ltd. within 7 working days from the time of the transaction. In case of default, the bid bond will not be refunded.
"If the bidder does not pay the bid price after the auction, the deposit will not be refunded. The corresponding subject matter manager can re-bid." Wang Zhibin told reporters.
However, the 2 billion yuan auction price of Snowway Mining's shares was considered "more expensive" by industry insiders.
Zeng Zhiqin, an analyst at Northeast Securities, said that based on the auction price of 2 billion yuan, the purchase price of a single ton of LCE in this transaction is about 5,080 yuan.
However, considering the transaction commission of 60 million yuan and the debt of 870 million yuan corresponding to 54.3% of the equity, the actual auction cost is 2.93 billion yuan. If this cost is calculated, the purchase price of a single ton of LCE is about 7443 yuan, which is significantly higher than other lithium in the industry. The purchase price of LCE per ton of mine.
Previously, in May 2022, Guoxuan Hi-Tech acquired Yifeng Lithium Mine for about 1,024 yuan per ton of LCE, and Ganfeng Lithium acquired Songshugangtan Niobium Mine for about 719 yuan; in March 2022, Guocheng Group acquired Dangba Lithium Mine for about 719 yuan. 996 yuan; in May 2021, Shengxin Lithium Energy acquired Murong Lithium Mine for about 524 yuan.
"The main reason why lithium mines have been snapped up is that the price of lithium mines has risen very high in recent years, which has put a lot of cost pressure on battery suppliers, which in turn affects their profitability." Jiangxi New Energy Technology Vocational College New Energy Vehicle Technology Zhang Xiang, dean of the research institute, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry has made battery companies popular among investors. The company's cash flow is also very abundant, and it has the funds and ability to acquire upstream lithium mines.
For example, companies such as Ningde Times and Guoxuan Hi-Tech have obvious advantages in extending their industrial chain to upstream lithium mines.
Zhang Xiaorong, Dean of Deepin Science and Technology Research Institute, also told the reporter of Securities Daily that the new energy industry has developed rapidly in the past two years, the market demand for lithium ore has increased sharply, and the price of lithium ore has continued to rise. In the eyes of many people, owning a lithium ore is equivalent to owning a lithium ore. The "treasure house" was created, which led to the mad snatch of Snowway Mining's equity, but there was a very irrational hype in the auction process, which led to the auction price greatly exceeding market expectations.
Scarcity of lithium resources has become an industry consensus
It is worth mentioning that in this auction, the "GCL-series" companies have always been considered extremely competitive.
The reason is that the "GCL Department" currently owns 99% of the creditor's rights and 43% of the equity of Snowway Mining.
According to the reporter of "Securities Daily", related companies of the "GCL series" also participated in this auction.
Behind its participation in this lithium grab is its firm layout on the lithium battery track.
Huang Yueyuan, deputy general manager of GCL Nengke Investment, a listed company under the "GCL Department", said in an institutional survey, "The company actively responded to the national 'dual carbon' strategic deployment and quickly entered the mobile energy track. Among them, important One task is to expand the business of lithium battery resources and materials to ensure the supply of strategic, scarce, lithium, phosphorus and other resources. Our purpose is to solve the reliable supply demand of batteries and upstream materials for the operation of large-scale battery swap stations, reduce costs, and increase the market. competitiveness, thereby promoting the rapid and steady development of the mobile energy business.”
The auction of Snowway Mining's equity has attracted such high attention because with the development of the new energy vehicle industry, the problem of shortage of lithium resources has become more and more prominent.
On May 20, Yichun Guoxuan Mining Co., Ltd., a subsidiary company of Guoxuan Hi-Tech Holding Co., Ltd., successfully won the general survey and prospecting right of the china clay (containing lithium) mine in the Shuinan mining section of the Kuishili mining area, Yifeng County, Jiangxi Province with an offer of 460 million yuan.
This is the second prospecting right obtained by Guoxuan Hi-Tech in Jiangxi.
Guoxuan Hi-Tech said that Yichun Guoxuan Mining's acquisition of the prospecting right of the Shuinan mining section (including lithium) in Yifeng County is an important measure for the layout of the entire industrial chain of Guoxuan Hi-Tech, which is conducive to stabilizing the supply of lithium carbonate, reducing procurement costs, and consolidating The company's market position in the power lithium battery industry is in line with the company's strategic development positioning and needs.
The "Securities Daily" reporter noticed that many listed companies such as Jinyuan Co., Ltd., Western Mining, China Mining Resources, and Ningde Times are actively acquiring lithium resources through acquisitions and shareholding.
Zeng Zhiqin believes that the scarcity of lithium resources has become an industry consensus, which has opened up the imagination of lithium prices. Under the background of high prices, the competition for lithium resources in the industrial chain is not weak but strong.
Behind this is the industry's judgment on the normalization of lithium resource shortages.
Looking further, lithium resources may be a key factor in determining the final pattern of the industry.
In this context, lithium prices may increase exponentially like oil prices once the industry is in short supply.
"The downward safety margin is thickened + the upward elasticity is fully opened", and lithium, as the "white oil" in the new era, may usher in a major revaluation.
Cheng Ling, an analyst at Xinyu Information, told the "Securities Daily" reporter, "In the long run, the competition in the lithium battery industry chain is a competition between chains and chains, and the advantage should be that the head power battery factory directly takes mines and competes. The final competition is the product competitiveness of the C-end. And other types of companies can only earn processing fees under full competition."