HONG KONG, July 6 (Reuters) - Tianqi Lithium Corp has priced its shares at HK$82 ($10.45) each to raise $1.71 billion in a Hong Kong listing which is the largest in the city so far in 2022, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The sources could not be identified as the information has not yet been made public.

Tianqi Lithium did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside normal business hours.

The Shenzhen-listed company, which is one of the world's top producers of lithium chemicals for electric vehicle batteries, is selling 164.12 million shares in the deal, according to its regulatory filings.

The price is at the top end of the $HK69 to HK$82 per share range offered during the transaction.

But it is nearly a 50% discount to where the firm's Shenzhen stock is trading. The Hong Kong shares will start trading on July 13.

Tianqi can still exercise a 15% greenshoe, or over-allotment option, which could take the total size of the listing to nearly $2 billion.

Lithium prices have soared in the past year, despite some volatility caused during Shanghai's COVID-19 lockdown, on strong global demand for electric vehicles.

Prices have risen by nearly 120% in 2022 and are up 400% year on year, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

Tianqi's Shenzhen-listed shares have endured volatile trading of late, in line with lithium prices, but are up 34.4% so far in 2022.

The deal marks the largest share sale in Hong Kong in 2022, in a year when initial public offerings and secondary listing values have fallen sharply.

There has been $2.2 billion worth of initial public offerings and secondary listings in the city in the first half of the year, down from $30.27 billion at the same time in 2021, according to Refinitiv data. ($1 = 7.8473 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Scott Murdoch; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Kim Coghill)