Lithium mining concept stocks surge! "Supply disruption" meets "energy storage boom," is a new cycle beginning? Huabao Fund Non-Ferrous ETF (159876) reached a high of 3.6%

Friday (March 27) the A-share market managed to carve out an independent move amid the overnight plunge in U.S. stocks. Energy metals led both markets. Lithium-mining stocks were in a frenzy of daily limit-up gains: Ganfeng Lithium, Yongxing Materials, and Shengxin Lithium Energy all hit the daily limit. Even a small-metal leader, Yunnan Germanium Industry, also hit the daily limit, with its share price reaching a record high.

As for popular ETFs, the Huabao Metals ETF (159876), which captures leading companies across the nonferrous metals sector, posted the highest intraday gain, topping 3.61% at its peak, and closed up 2.91%, reclaiming the 10-day moving average.

On the capital-flow front, more than 14.8 billion yuan in main-force funds aggressively bought the nonferrous metals segment. The amount attracted by the sector ranked first among 31 Shenwan primary industries. Throughout the day, Ganfeng Lithium saw net inflows from main-force funds of 3.734 billion yuan, topping the A-share fund-attraction ranking.

On the news front, the benchmark lithium carbonate futures contract broke through the 160,000 yuan/ton threshold in one fell swoop, with cumulative gains of more than 14% over the past five days. With the global supply-and-demand landscape reversing—“supply cut” colliding with “energy storage demand boom”—a new cycle may be about to begin:

1、On the supply side, Zimbabwe, the world’s fourth-largest lithium mine-producing country, has been indefinitely pausing all exports of raw ore and lithium concentrate since late February. This ban has now lasted nearly a month, far exceeding market expectations for a short-term disruption. Zimbabwe accounts for about 10% of global lithium resource output, and nearly two-tenths of its lithium concentrate flows to China. This “supply disruption” effect has sharply tightened spot liquidity in the domestic market in the short term.

2、On the demand side, the energy storage market in 2026 is showing a blowout. Data show that in January and February 2026, China’s energy storage cell output surged 91% year over year. Driven by the AI data center construction boom and a high oil-price substitution effect caused by geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, UBS expects lithium battery energy storage demand in 2026 to grow by 55%. Energy storage is shifting from supporting role to lead role. It is expected that by 2035, its share in lithium demand will jump from today’s single digits to 42%.*

Industrial Securities said that downstream demand for battery cells remains at a high level. Meanwhile, on the supply side, disruptions related to Jiangxi lithium mine certification keep coming, and supply-side concerns still exist. Given strong current spot demand, lithium mine restart progress continuing to be below expectations, and the disruption from the ban on exports of lithium from Zhanba Lithium, lithium prices may continue to trade with a strong bias in the short term.*

Looking ahead for the nonferrous metals sector, Shenwan Hongyuan said that recent geopolitical disturbances in the Middle East have pushed energy prices higher, and concerns about stagflation combined with high asset volatility have put overall pressure on the nonferrous metals sector. Under the long-term driver of de-globalization, investment logic for strategic small metals has entered a new paradigm, spanning everything from precious metals and commodities to strategic small metals. The nonferrous metals sector is expected to continue rising, and near-term volatility may offer a good opportunity for allocation within the year.*

[The nonferrous metals boom is here—“super cycle” is unstoppable]

Huabao Metals ETF (159876) and its feeder funds (A shares: 017140, C shares: 017141) comprehensively cover industry indexes such as copper, aluminum, gold, rare earths, and lithium, spanning different business-cycle phases including precious metals (risk hedging), strategic metals (growth), and industrial metals (recovery). With full-category coverage, it can better capture the sector’s beta opportunities. At the same time, this ETF is a margin financing and securities lending (ETF financing/shorting) eligible instrument, making it an efficient tool for one-click allocation to the nonferrous metals sector.

As of the end of February, Huabao Metals ETF (159876) had the latest AUM of 2.427 billion yuan. Over the past month, average daily trading value exceeded 100 million yuan. Among the three ETF products tracking the same underlying index across the whole market, it ranks first in both scale and liquidity.

*Institutional viewpoint reference sources: ① UBS report released on February 7: “The lithium price enters the third round of an upward cycle, with industry high optimism driven by supply-demand gaps”; ② Industrial Securities’ viewpoint on March 26, see the article “Industrial Securities: Jiangxi lithium mine re-certification + Zimbabwe export ban, lithium prices偏强 in the short term”; ③ Shenwan Hongyuan’s report released on March 18: “2026 Spring Investment Strategy for China’s Nonferrous Metals Industry: Progress Amid Volatility.”

Note: The prior in-market abbreviation of Huabao Metals ETF (159876) was the Nonferrous Metals Leaders ETF.

Reminder: Market volatility in the near term may be relatively large. Short-term gains or losses do not indicate future performance. Investors should invest rationally based on their own financial situation and risk tolerance, and place special emphasis on position sizing and risk management.

Risk warning: Huabao Metals ETF passively tracks the CSI Nonferrous Metals Index. The index base date is 2013.12.31, and it was published on 2015.7.13. Over the most recent 5 complete fiscal years, the index’s annual returns were: 2021, 35.89%; 2022, -19.22%; 2023, -10.43%; 2024, 2.96%; 2025, 91.67%. The index constituent stock composition is adjusted from time to time according to the index compilation rules. Its backtested historical performance does not predict the index’s future performance. The index constituents mentioned in this article are only for display. The descriptions of individual stocks do not constitute any form of investment advice, nor do they represent the portfolio holdings information and trading activity of any funds under the management company. The fund manager has assessed the fund’s risk level as R3—medium risk—and it is suitable for balanced (C3) investors and above. Any suitability matching opinions should be determined by the sales institution. Any information appearing in this article (including but not limited to individual stocks, comments, forecasts, charts, indicators, theories, any form of statements, etc.) is for reference only. Investors are responsible for any investment actions they decide independently. Also, any viewpoints, analyses, and forecasts in this article do not constitute any investment advice in any form to the readers, and no responsibility is assumed for any direct or indirect losses arising from the use of the content in this article. Investing in funds involves risks. Past performance of a fund does not represent its future performance. The performance of other funds managed by the fund manager does not constitute a guarantee of performance for the fund. Investors should be cautious when investing in funds.

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