Native name | 赣锋锂业股份有限公司 |
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Company type | publicly traded company |
SZSE:
002460 SEHK: 1772 | |
Industry | Mining |
Founded | 2000 |
Headquarters | Longteng Road, Economic Development Zone, Xinyu, Jiangxi Province, China |
Key people | Li Liangbin (李良彬, chair) Wang Xiaoshen (王晓申, vice-chair and president) |
Products | Lithium products and other metals |
Number of employees | 7,870 (2020) |
Website | http://www.ganfenglithium.com/ |
Ganfeng Lithium | |||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 赣锋锂业 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 贛鋒鋰業 | ||||||
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Ganfeng Lithium Co., Ltd. is a company that produces lithium, lithium products, other metals, and batteries in mainland China and globally. It was founded by Li Liangbin in 2000 and is headquartered in Xinyu, Jiangxi. [1] [2] It is the largest lithium salt producer in China and the third largest in the world, [3] as well as the second largest lithium processor in the world (after the Chilean Sociedad Química y Minera). [2] It is traded on both the Shenzhen Stock Exchange ( SZSE: 002460) and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ( SEHK: 1772) [4] and has a market capitalization of US$26 billion. [2]
Ganfeng Lithium was founded in 2000 [5] [2] by Li Liangbin (李良彬) and Li Huabiao (李华彪) in Xinyu City, Jiangxi. [6] In 2003, the company built a lithium production base. [5] The company's leaders, Li Liangbin and Wang Xiaoshen (王晓申), are both of poor, rural origins. [2]
The company started out in chemical processing, but it has expanded its scope by developing mines internationally. [2] In 2017 it began producing batteries for the growing electric vehicle industry. Wang said Ganfeng's battery production would benefit from an economy of scope: "We are the leading supplier of lithium chemicals which will benefit our battery plant." [7]
Described as a "lithium supermarket", Ganfeng sells a wide variety of lithium and related products, including lithium salts, other metals, and batteries. [8] [1] [9] Its lithium salt production capacity was estimated at 120,000 tons per year as of 2021. [9] As of 2019, it is the largest pure lithium producer in the world. [10] As of 2022, it is also the largest lithium salt producer in China and the third largest in the world, [3] as well as the second largest lithium processor in the world (after the Chilean Sociedad Química y Minera). [2] In 2020, Ganfeng produced an estimated 24% of the world's lithium hydroxide. [8] It sells products to clients including Tesla, BMW, and LG Chem. [9] [11]
Ganfeng invests in lithium projects overseas [2] and says its "strategy is to secure long-term competitive resources". [7] It owns three lithium brine projects in Argentina [4] and was the largest shareholder of Lithium Americas in 2021. [12] In 2014, Ganfeng invested in the Mariana lithium-potassium brine project in Argentina. [5] In 2015, the company invested in the Australian company Reed Industrial Minerals, gaining rights to its Mount Marion spodumene project. [5] In 2021, it acquired a 50% ownership stake in the Goulamina mine, a lithium mine in Mali's Ségou Region. [13] [14] [15] [16] The company also has investments and contracts in China, [15] Ireland, [15] Mexico, [15] [2] and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [15]
This international scope makes Ganfeng vulnerable to geopolitical tension. [2] Its former supplier Joe Lowry said that the company would be "treading a fine line" between international pressures; Ganfeng risks being affected by US government actions targeting Chinese companies or by Chinese government intervention in the electric vehicle industry. [2] Governments in Latin America have also taken steps that may limit Ganfeng's opportunities there; for instance, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has worked to nationalize the country's lithium. [8] [17]
The company is dual-listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. [2] As of August 2022, it has a market capitalization of US$26 billion. [2]
On 10 August 2010, the company had an IPO on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It issued 25 million new shares at a price of 20.7 RMB each, raising 517.5 million RMB. [18] [6]
On 11 October 2018, it had an IPO on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at a list price range of 16.50–26.50 HKD. The company issued 200,185,800 H shares, raising 3.171 billion HKD, which it used to expand its lithium-related activities. China Structural Reform Fund, LG, Samsung, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, FAW Group, and GoldenSand Capital were the six cornerstone investors. [19] [20] [21] [22]
In July 2022, Ganfeng announced that it was being investigated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission in a possible insider trading case. [9] The company's stock fell 7% on the Shenzhen stock exchange after the announcement. [23]