Is NIO Cutting Production at Ningde Times' Mining Area? Lithium Carbonate Supply Chain Disturbances Again! Colored Head ETF (159876) Soars 1% in a Single Day and Hits Daily Line of Five Consecutive Gains!
On August 8th, the 2025 China (Yichun) Lithium Battery Industry Conference was held at "Asia's Lithium Capital" Jiangxi Yichun. The trend of "de-capacity" is transmitting from the terminal to upstream, and local governments such as Jiangxi and Qinghai have begun to regulate the production of lithium resources. According to insiders, on July 14th, the Natural Resources Bureau of Yichun City issued a notice requiring eight local lithium mining companies to compile and submit their inventory reports by September 30th. Regulatory authorities are speeding up the governance of illegal lithium resource exploitation.
The colored head ETF (159876) constituent stock Mineral Resources (002738) announced on June 27th that it would further reduce the production costs of lithium salt business, accelerate the transformation to intelligent manufacturing, and deepen the green low-carbon development model. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ningde Times Lithium Industry Co., Ltd., plans to upgrade its existing 2.5 million-ton lithium carbonate production line and invest in a new project for producing 3 tons of high-purity lithium carbonate per year, with an estimated downtime of about six months.
On August 10th, NIO (300750) suspended its mining activities at the Zhenshui mine area in Ningde, or becoming a landmark event in the domestic lithium industry's reduction of production capacity. Industry insiders pointed out that if the suspension continues, it would lead to a shortage of approximately 80,000 tons of LCE per month, accounting for about 8% of China's monthly supply of lithium carbonate, which would have a significant impact on the price of lithium carbonate in the short term.
Regarding gold, the news of gold tariffs initially drove the price of gold up more than 2%, reaching a new high. However, the US government later clarified that it was a "misunderstanding" and would not impose tariffs on gold, causing the price to drop rapidly. It's worth noting that the People's Bank of China has continued to increase its gold reserves for nine consecutive months.
Looking ahead, the colored head ETF (159876) is expected to benefit from the "reverse inflation" policy and the optimization of production factors in various industries, which will boost metal prices and transmit the upward trend to downstream sectors. Meanwhile, industrial metal stocks are currently undervalued and have room for growth.
On the market, last Friday (August 8th) saw a surge in the colored head ETF (159876), with its intraday price rising 1.05% and hitting a daily line of five consecutive gains!
In the future, the "heart of metals" industry will be a critical component of modern industrial development. According to the Sheng Wan three-level industry classification, as of July 31st, the colored head ETF (159876) and its linked funds (A-class: 017140, C-class: 017141) passively track the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Metal Index, with copper, aluminum, gold, rare earths, and lithium industries accounting for 24.5%, 15.3%, 14.4%, 11.5%, and 8.2% of the index, respectively. This can help diversify investment risks and is suitable for use as a component in an investment portfolio.
