China's lithium prices soar after Zimbabwe bans export

China's Lithium price rose on Thursday after Zimbabwe suspended its raw?mineral exports. This sparked concerns about supply disruptions at a time when the market is expected to boom due to a growing demand for?energy storage?.

As of 0330 GMT, the most traded contract for lithium carbonate on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange had risen 6.07%, to?178.020 yuan (about $26,043.45) per metric ton, after having risen by more than 9%, to 187.700 yuan, earlier in this session.

Zimbabwe suspended all exports of raw minerals, including?lithium concentrates, on Wednesday.

The country is the largest lithium producer in Africa. It exported 1.128 millions tons of spodumene in 2025. This was an increase of 11% over the previous year. Most of this volume was shipped to China.

In recent years, Chinese mining companies like Zhejiang Cobalt, Sinomine and Zhejiang have made substantial investments in Zimbabwe.

The export ban has raised questions about the stability of the raw material supply at a time when expectations of a boom for energy storage systems has?driven up a rise in lithium prices from the'second half of 2025. $1 = 6.8355 Chinese Yuan Renminbi (Reporting and editing by Eileen Soreng; Lewis Jackson, Dylan Duan)

(source: Reuters)