CATL, the world’s largest manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles, has suspended production at its lithium mine in Jiangxi province, China, for a period of no less than three months.
According to “Bloomberg News”, the closure of CATL’s mine, the first publicly announced in Yichun, a major lithium mining hub in China, is due to the company’s failure to obtain the mining license that expired on August 9. “Once the license is approved, we will resume production,” said CATL in a statement this Monday.
The mine in question, one of several owned by CATL, can produce just over 46,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent per year, about 3% of the global production expected for 2025, according to data from the Australian government.
The lithium sector has faced weaker-than-expected growth in demand for electric vehicles in a market with oversupply.
After reaching record levels in 2022, lithium prices, essential for the global transition to greener energy, have fallen nearly 90%, leading producers worldwide to cut their investment plans.
However, lithium prices rose in September last year, when CATL announced plans to adjust lithium carbonate production at the Yichun project, but fell when the company announced in February 2025 that it would restart operations.
