A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260428

The most-traded GFEX (Guangzhou Futures Exchange) lithium carbonate contract showed a V-shaped trend last week, with the settlement price edging up 1.07% as of April 24 compared with the previous Friday, data showed. With no major catalysts from the news front, the futures market saw intensive wrestling of bulls and bears in the session ending April 24. On the fundamentals, the market's key battleground lies in the bullish expectations but relatively slow inventory digestion. Based on Mysteel's estimation, the May and June outlook indicates a monthly drawdown of more than 10,000 tonnes for each month, thanks to cathode plants maintaining high operating rates and new capacity coming on stream.

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260421

The most-traded GFEX (Guangzhou Futures Exchange) lithium carbonate contract re-gained momentum last week from expectations of sustained inventory drawdown on the backdrop of persistent supply disruption, with the settlement price marking a weekly growth of nearly 14% as of Friday April 17 from the previous Friday, data showed. On the spot market, though the market sentiment shifted towards the bullish side, the downstream players stood wait-and-see and only purchased based on immediate needs. Mysteel's survey indicated that the lithium carbonate spot transactions significantly slowed compared with the previous week, with the overall inventory showing mild but continued accumulation.

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260414

On the spot market, though the market players speculated on continued supply disruptions, the demand end failed to follow suit, even though the lithium prices turned soft. Mysteel's tracking suggested that the weekly spot transaction volume of lithium carbonate has been contracting since the middle of March, and the carbonate inventory across the industry chain has stopped destocking for several weeks in a row, though the inventory did now show great accumulation.

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260408

The most-traded GFEX (Guangzhou Futures Exchange) lithium carbonate contract recorded a soft week in the session ending April 3, with the settlement price showing a weekly contraction of 3.51% as of Friday April 3 against the previous Friday, data showed. On the news front, there was rumor circulating on the market that Zimbabwe has decided to relax its lithium export ban, which, was denied by the Zimbabwean cabinet as they reaffirmed its decision to maintain the ban on raw ore exports. The disruptions on the supply side kept lithium prices volatile last week overall.

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260331

The most-traded GFEX (Guangzhou Futures Exchange) lithium carbonate futures contract remained bullish in the week ending March 27, with the settlement price recording a weekly gain of 17.09% as of March 27 compared with the previous Friday, data showed. The weekly increase was primarily due to the players starting to trade the expectations of tightening lithium ore supply amidst on-going supply disruptions when it is almost an established fact that the demand end will stay resilient based on the LFP cathode production scheduling in April, thanks to robust energy storage market.

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260324

China's lithium carbonate market experienced a rather gloomy week in the week ending March 20, with the most-traded GFEX (Guangzhou Futures Exchange) lithium carbonate contracting losing 5.95% as of Friday March 20 compared with the previous Friday, data showed. On the whole, the lithium market has been increasingly exposed to the impacts on the macro front amidst the lasting geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, which has created great concerns over crude supply and US Fed's rate hikes, with non-ferrous metals prices finding new floors.

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260317

The most-traded GFEX (Guangzhou Futures Exchange) lithium carbonate contract hovered rangebound in the reporting period (March 7 13), with the settlement price edging up 0.27% as of Friday March 13 from the previous Friday, data showed. On the spot market, the weekly spot lithium carbonate transaction volume almost halved from the previous week, based on Mysteel's survey of sampled traders. And the trading seemed more active when lithium carbonate prices dropped to Yuan 150,000/tonne. In addition, Mysteel maintains its view that the March lithium carbonate market will manage a tight supply-demand balance with marginal supply surplus.

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260310

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market

The most-traded GFEX LC contract staged rapid rally post the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday, with the settlement price achieving a weekly increase of around 17% compared with the last business day before the holiday. And the support came from both the fundamentals and sentiment front. On the fundamentals, the downstream cathode plants mostly maintained active production during the holiday, and the in-plant lithium carbonate inventory held by Mysteel's sampled cathode and battery cell plants reported a reduction of 13.92% by February 27 compared with before the holiday, offering firm support to lithium carbonate prices.

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260210

The most-traded Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX) LC contract recorded another bearish week, with the settlement price losing 14.08% as of Friday February 6 compared to the previous Friday, primarily due to the lack of new catalysts as well as the ripple effect of the persistently falling non-ferrous metal prices. Currently, with the CNY holiday approaching and downstream players finishing stockpiling, the lithium carbonate spot market is expected to gradually come to a standstill. Near-term events to be watched including the resumption progress of Jianxiawo mine, power battery demand recovery post CNY holiday, as well as the production scheduling in March.