Zimbabwe’s exports of spodumene concentrate, a lithium-bearing mineral essential for battery production, jumped 27% in the nine months to September despite weak global lithium prices, official statistics showed.
Africa’s top lithium producer exported 1 million metric tons of spodumene concentrate between January and September, compared to 784,746 tons during the same period last year, according to statistics from the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) obtained by Reuters on Friday.
Prices for lithium — a key component in batteries powering renewable-energy technologies — remain well below their 2022 peaks due to oversupply. Spot prices for lithium carbonate recently slid to around $11,000 per ton, from highs near $70,000 per ton in early 2023.
“Despite the rise in tonnage, export value declined by 11%, from $432.4 million in 2024 to $386.9 million in 2025, largely due to lower international spodumene prices,” the MMCZ statement said.
Chinese firms in the lead
China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine, Chengxin Lithium Group, Yahua Group and the Tsingshan Group mine and produce lithium concentrates in Zimbabwe and export them to China.
According to the MMCZ, these firms have collectively invested more than $1.4 billion since 2021 to purchase and develop lithium assets in the country.
Zimbabwe will ban the export of lithium concentrates starting in 2027 to encourage more local processing.
Huayou, which shipped 400,000 tons of lithium concentrate from the country in 2024, has built a $400 million plant in Zimbabwe, which will start producing 50,000 tons of lithium sulphate next year.
Sinomine has also unveiled plans to develop a $500 million lithium sulphate facility at its Bikita mine in Zimbabwe.
(By Chris Takudzwa Muronzi; Editing by Nelson Banya and Rod Nickel)
