(Yicai Global) July 14 -- Jiangxi Special Electric Motor said net profit likely soared by at least 64 times in the first half of the year because of higher lithium carbonate prices. The company’s shares gained.

Net profit was somewhere between CNY175 million and CNY185 million (USD27 million to USD28.6 million) in the six months ended June 30, the Jiangxi province-based firm said yesterday. It made CNY2.8 million (USD433,000) a year earlier.

Jiangxi Special Electric had significant expansions in both output and sales of its lithium carbonate, one of the main raw materials of lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium-ion batteries. Prices have gained 120 percent since December as domestic capacity to make power lithium-ion batteries has quickly increased, according to data from SunSirs.

Shares of Jiangxi Special Electric [SHE:002176] closed 1.7 percent up at CNY11.90 (USD1.8). The company’ stock price has risen 50 percent and 200 percent since July and January, respectively.

But lithium carbonate prices are volatile. Jiangxi Special Electric could control its output last year because the market price was lower than the cost price. At CNY124 million, revenue from the business fell 74 percent in 2020, according to its annual report.

The company, which has mining rights in Yichun, Jiangxi province, focuses on electric machinery and lithium-ion battery materials. It owns over 100 million tons of lithium and has a production capacity of 30,000 tons of lithium carbonate a year.

Editor: Futura Costaglione