The most-traded lithium carbonate futures price slightly rebounded yesterday, with sustained destocking of GFEX warrants offering certain support. On the other hand, though lithium ore port inventories have been building based on Mysteel's survey, the lithium refineries purchased primarily based on immediate needs partly due to high-cost stocks purchased earlier, limiting the increase in lithium carbonate production.
On the spot market, though traders' basis offers remained firm, the actually traded basis showed signs of weakening. On the other hand, though lithium carbonate prices fell below Yuan 100,000/tonne, the speculative stockpiling did not appear, with downstream players primarily purchasing on rigid demand. Overall, with tug-of-war between fundamentals and expectations still in place, the lithium carbonate prices are expected to keep rangebound with a weak bias in the near term.
