Lithium carbonate inventories continued to draw down last week though at a slowing pace, mainly because converters ramped up the shipment when lithium prices briefly rebounded. The inventory structure shifted from the earlier "accumulation at converters, destocking at traders and downstream players" to "simultaneous destocking at converters and downstream players, with modestly rebuilding at traders". On the cost side, low prices and cost inversion have already pushed marginal-cost capacity toward production cuts, but before supply visibly contracts, cost support for prices will remain limited and is unlikely to reverse weak expectations.
