The profile below offers a focused, data-driven portrait of Tianqi Lithium Corporation, emphasizing the company’s assets, production footprint, financial and operational signals, and its role within the global lithium supply chain. The account concentrates on lithium-specific activities — spodumene production, lithium carbonate and hydroxide processing, strategic stakes and partnerships — and situates these facts against market comparators and recent operational developments. Readers will find an organized company data table, asset-level descriptions, governance and ESG indicators, summaries of disputes and regulatory exposure, and pragmatic investor checklists. The narrative follows a procurement manager, Elena Park, whose sourcing choices illustrate how Tianqi’s capabilities and risks translate into supply agreements for electric vehicle manufacturers. Links to public filings, industry directories and commercial profiles are embedded to facilitate verification and follow-up research.
Tianqi Lithium (SHE:002466) Company Profile & Key Data — Corporate facts and structured reference
This section presents a compact, table-first reference for Tianqi Lithium Corporation: legal listings, headquarters, leadership, principal operations and material metrics used by analysts and procurement officers. The core table aggregates fields commonly used for cross-company comparison in lithium-focused databases. The table is followed by short explanatory notes that connect the figures to asset-level realities.
Field | Value (primary) |
---|---|
Company Name | Tianqi Lithium Corporation |
Ticker(s) & Exchange(s) | 002466.SZ (Shenzhen); 9696.HK (HKEX) |
Country | People’s Republic of China |
Headquarters | Chengdu, Sichuan |
Founded | 1992 |
CEO | (See company filings for current executive list) |
Employees | Several thousand (group-wide; contacts list at corporate site) |
Sector / Sub-Sector | Mining / Processing / Battery materials — spodumene extraction, lithium carbonate & hydroxide production, specialty compounds |
Market Cap (USD) | Variable — refer to equity markets; see Shenzhen & Hong Kong listings |
Revenue & Net Income | Reported in annual filings; sample summaries available on financial portals |
Lithium Production (tonnes LCE/year) | Group production depends on stake-weighted output (Greenbushes via Talison plus own processing) |
Main Mines / Projects | Greenbushes (via Talison Lithium); Kwinana processing plant (WA); Chilean interests (SQM stake) |
Project Locations | Australia, Chile, China |
Proven & Probable Reserves | Reserves tied to Talison / Greenbushes and optioned Chilean resources; refer to technical reports |
Processing Facilities | Kwinana (project-level processing); Chinese refining sites for carbonate/hydroxide |
Exploration Stage | Not a junior — integrated producer, investor and processor |
Key Partnerships / Clients | Stakeholders include Talison partners, customers across battery & industrial sectors, strategic investments such as SQM (historic stake) |
Stock Index Membership | Shenzhen Exchange listing; Hong Kong secondary listing |
ESG / Sustainability Initiatives | Published sustainability reports; disclosed CO2e for FY2020 ~259 Kt (scope 1+2) |
Website | http://en.tianqilithium.com/ |
Notes on the table above:
- Listings and data sources: Financial profiles and corporate summaries are maintained on equity portals — see the Shenzhen HK pages and commercial profiles for up-to-date numeric disclosures at stockanalysis.com and Yahoo Finance.
- Operational footprint: The company’s role is best understood as integrated: upstream exposure from mining stakes (notably Talison/Greenbushes) and downstream refining in China and planned Australian processing capacity.
- Verification links: For cross-referenced company datasets, consult the Craft profile (craft.co) and the Financial Times issuer page (markets.ft.com).
Key takeaway: Tianqi is an integrated lithium group with material exposure to the Greenbushes asset and downstream refining capacity, making it a critical node in EV battery raw-material supply chains.
Production footprint and project portfolio — Greenbushes, Kwinana, Chilean interests and Chinese refining
This section examines Tianqi’s asset mix and project pipeline, outlining production modalities and geographic concentration. The account uses the procurement manager Elena Park as a running example: Elena evaluates Tianqi when qualifying suppliers for a mid-size EV manufacturer’s battery program, weighing ore-grade consistency, processing pathways and logistics.
Greenbushes and Talison stake — spodumene supply logic
Tianqi holds a majority stake in Talison Lithium, the operating company of the Greenbushes mine in Western Australia. Greenbushes is one of the world’s highest-grade hard-rock lithium deposits; historically, that pegmatite produced a significant share of global spodumene concentrate. For Elena, Greenbushes represents a low-risk source of high-grade spodumene feedstock. The following list captures technical and commercial implications:
- Ore grade and reliability: Greenbushes pegmatites are known for high Li2O content, supporting consistent concentrate grades for downstream converters.
- Contracting advantages: Long-term offtakes from Talison-linked production can secure stable feed for converters producing lithium carbonate or hydroxide.
- Logistics: Australian export infrastructure supports containerized and bulk shipment to Asian refineries or converters in Europe and North America.
Example: When specifying feedstock quality, Elena considers spodumene concentrates from Greenbushes to reduce refining variability, especially for high-nickel battery chemistries requiring high-purity hydroxide.
Kwinana processing project and downstream refining
Tianqi announced investment plans for a lithium processing facility in Kwinana, Western Australia, to convert spodumene concentrate to higher-value chemical products. The Kwinana project highlights the company’s strategy to vertically integrate near-source processing, lowering freight and treatment margins. For supply-chain planners:
- Value capture: On-shore processing converts concentrates into carbonate/hydroxide, enabling margin capture and logic for regional offtakes.
- Permitting and construction risk: Project execution has faced contractual disputes; these underscore schedule risk for product ramp-up.
- Market timing: Delivering processing capacity into tight market windows affects contract pricing — earlier operations can capitalize on structural deficits.
Illustration: In a supplier evaluation, a battery cell manufacturer might prefer converters with proximate processing plants to minimize logistics complexity and carbon intensity.
Chilean position through equity stakes
Historically, Tianqi acquired a minority stake in Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM), offering upstream brine exposure in Chile. Such equity positions provide strategic access to salar brine production and diversification away from hard-rock resources. Key points:
- Access to brine: Brine-derived lithium has different chemistry and processing pathways, useful for blending supply sources.
- Governance and control: Minority stakes confer influence but not operational control; supply reliability depends on the operating company’s production policies.
- Geopolitical exposure: Latin American regulatory frameworks and community relations can affect output timing for brine projects.
For Elena, a supplier connected to both hard-rock and brine supply lowers concentration risk across cathode chemistries. However, equity-based access differs from direct contractual offtakes and must be assessed within governance and volatility metrics.
Data and sources: Public summaries of Tianqi’s asset positions appear in company sustainability reports and industry directories. Additional context and historic coverage are available on Wikipedia and on industry association pages like lithium.org.
Operational insight: Asset diversity across Greenbushes, Chilean stakes and Chinese refining gives Tianqi flexibility, but each asset class carries distinct execution and regulatory risks that procurement teams must model into supply agreements.
Financial profile, market position and strategic partnerships — assessing Tianqi against global comparators
This section analyzes how Tianqi sits within the global lithium market, referencing public market data, strategic investments and partnerships. The narrative connects corporate financial signals, stakeholdings and competitor dynamics that matter to investors and corporate buyers.
Market position and comparator companies
Tianqi is part of a cohort of companies that shape lithium supply. Major comparators include Albemarle Corporation, SQM (Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile), Ganfeng Lithium, Livent Corporation and legacy chemical producers like FMC Corporation. Junior and mid-tier peers such as Lithium Americas, Piedmont Lithium, Nemaska Lithium, Orocobre Limited and Mineral Resources Limited complete the competitive set. Analysts and procurement officers look at:
- Production share: Stake-weighted exposure to Greenbushes historically translated into meaningful market share in concentrate production.
- Downstream capability: Refining and chemical manufacturing determines realized margins relative to raw concentrate sellers.
- Liquidity and capital access: Access to capital markets and partners affects expansion and project completion.
For side-by-side summaries of comparators, industry profiles on specialist sites provide compact reference points: samples include dedicated pages for competitors at Ganfeng and Albemarle. Financial portals such as PitchBook and Marketscreener host corporate profiles and sharper financial backstops (PitchBook; MarketScreener).
Capital structure and earnings dynamics
Tianqi’s equity is listed on Shenzhen and Hong Kong exchanges, subject to market valuation dynamics, sector rerating and operational news. Revenue and net income figures fluctuate with lithium prices and product mix. Key financial dimensions for assessment:
- Price sensitivity: Lithium chemical prices drive refining margin more than raw concentrate producers when conversion capacity exists.
- Stake valuation: Equity stakes in companies like SQM have historically introduced balance-sheet risk and strategic value interplay.
- Project financing: Construction delays or disputes (e.g., contractor claims) can create episodic cash demands or legal contingencies that affect liquidity.
Market references: The company profile pages on Craft and the Financial Times provide tabulated overviews for investor due diligence (Craft; FT Markets). For a quick corporate snapshot, stockanalysis provides a useful starting point (stockanalysis).
Lithium producers comparison
Company ▲▼ | Market Cap (USD) | Production (tpa LCE) | Downstream Capacity | Major Assets | Listings |
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- Data shown is for illustrative comparison; verify with official sources for investment decisions.
David Miller is a financial writer and analyst who has spent more than ten years studying how natural resources shape the global economy. His work often gravitates toward lithium and other battery metals, not just because of their financial weight, but because of their role in the world’s energy transition and the shift toward cleaner technologies.
Having followed the rise of electric vehicles and renewable energy from both an investment and environmental perspective, David believes that telling the story of each company matters. Behind every market cap or production figure, there are people, communities, and long-term projects that define how the lithium supply chain evolves.
In this directory, his goal is to provide profiles that are accurate, comparable, and accessible, but also written with an awareness of the bigger picture: how each company contributes to the future of energy, mobility, and sustainability.