Australia’s lithium exports hit a record high in June, with China becoming the country’s largest buyer, a new trade export data showed.
Lithium concentrates exports reached $1,163 million (US$810 million) in June, an increase of 1,189 percent compared with the same month last year, according to lithium export data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Aug. 4.
Despite continuing trade tensions with Beijing, $1,128 billion worth of lithium concentrate was exported to China, accounting for 97 percent of total lithium exports in the month.
From late 2021 onwards, lithium exports began to increase rapidly, more than doubling from November to December 2021, almost doubling again from April to May 2022, and surpassing $1 billion for the first time in June 2022, the data showed….