The lithium carbonate futures price slumped yesterday, giving up almost the gains in the previous two trading days. The decline was partly attributed to UBS cutting its 2027 China lithium price forecast from Yuan 200,000/tonne to Yuan 120,000/tonne and lowered earnings estimates and target prices for Chinese lithium stocks in a September 22 report.
On the fundamentals, the lithium carbonate spot prices fell, while spot transactions increased as downstream speculative restocking demand was released, with the transaction basis stable. Mysteel's latest inventory data suggested a slowdown in inventory drawdown, mainly because downstream pre-holiday restocking gradually wrapped up and restocking momentum has weakened at the margin. With the wrestling between solid fundamentals and weak expectations remaining in place, the lithium carbonate prices are poised for the soft end in the near term.
