Exports of lithium spodumene concentrate from Zimbabwe increased 11% in 2025, but lower global prices for the battery metal kept export revenue stable, according to official data released on Tuesday (3).
According to Reuters, spodumene exports totaled 1.128 million metric tons in the year ending December 2025, up from 1.014 million tons in the previous year, the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, a state-owned company, said in a statement.
Zimbabwe, Africa’s largest lithium producer, generated $513.8 million in spodumene sales last year, slightly down from $514.5 million the previous year due to lower prices.
The industry has struggled with oversupply of the metal used in battery storage, resulting in falling prices since the end of 2022.
However, lithium prices have recovered since the second half of 2025, with a boom in battery storage driven mainly by reforms in China’s energy sector, strengthening the outlook for demand for the metal in 2026.
Hard rock spodumene prices have recovered above $2,000 per ton since the beginning of 2026, after hitting a four-year low of around $610 per ton in June 2025. The mineral remains well below its 2022 peaks of over $6,000.
Lithium has become one of Zimbabwe’s main mineral exports, alongside gold, platinum group metals, ferrochrome, and chromium. The southern African country has rapidly expanded spodumene production in recent years following significant investments by Chinese mining companies, including Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine, Chengxin Lithium Group, and Yahua.
Most of the concentrate is exported to China for further processing into battery-grade materials, but the Zimbabwean government will ban the export of lithium concentrates from 2027 as it strives for greater local processing.
Mining company Huayou recently built a $400 million plant to process lithium concentrates into lithium sulfate, an intermediate product that can be refined into battery-grade material such as lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate.
Spodumene is a lithium and aluminum silicate mineral, classified as an inosilicate of the pyroxene group.
