The prices of lithium carbonate were down further by mid-September when the demand failed to pick up.
According to Mysteel, as of September 21, the offers of battery-grade lithium carbonate declined by Yuan 9,500/t to Yuan 184,000/t, with a 5% decrease WoW. That of industrial-grade lithium carbonate dripped by Yuan 12,000/t to Yuan 171,500/t, with a 7% decline WoW.
On the cost side, it is expected that the prices of lithium ore would fall amid the declining prices of spodumene concentrate and lepidolite affected by the lackluster downstream orders.
On the supply side, some lithium salt smelters that relied on outsourced raw materials were forced to reduce or suspend the production under high cost pressure as the prices of lithium carbonate continued to fall. In addition, some maintained low operating rates due to poor orders.
It is expected that the supply of lithium carbonate will be cut in September, while the circulation of spot lithium carbonate will remain abundant in the short term.
On the demand side, downstream manufacturers were more cautious in stockpiling and purchased on rigid demand only amid volatile prices and lack of bullish news.
A lithium salt factory in East China said, " The orders in September this year were obviously not as good as that in previous years amid sagging downstream demand.."
Mysteel predicts that the prices of lithium carbonate are still likely to fall under abundant spot supply in the short term and lack of momentum of downstream demand. And the mid-to-long-term price trend will be subject to the operating rates of lithium salt smelters and downstream demand improvement.
Source: Mysteel
Written by Alex Xie, xiehan@mysteel.com
Edited by Aggie Hu, huchenying@mysteel.com