A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260609

Last week, nickel prices showed weak trend. Under the combined impact of weakening macro sentiment and fundamental pressures, the most-traded SHFE nickel contract came under pressure and fell. On the macro front, rising expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate hikes and the relatively strong performance of the US dollar index exerted pressure on the non-ferrous metals sector. At the same time, US-Iran negotiations continued, leading to uncertainties over sulfur supply expectations, and some of the risk premiums accumulated earlier were given back.

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260602

The most-traded GFEX (Guangzhou Futures Exchange) lithium carbonate futures contract rallied around the middle of the week ending May 29 after falling for two weeks in a row, with the contract's settlement price recording a mild retreat of 0.62% as of Friday against May 22, data showed. On May 28, Zimbabwe classified lithium as a "critical mineral" and signaled plans to mandate minimum state ownership in mining assets. Although firms said it was a "minister's personal view" with no formal policy or immediate impact, the market viewed the news as a major supply disruption, triggering a sharp afternoon price rebound on the same day of the news.

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260526

The most-traded GFEX (Guangzhou Futures Exchange) lithium carbonate contract embarked on the downtrend in the past two weeks after briefly hitting a year-to-date high, with the settlement price falling 5.03% as of Friday May 22 against the previous Friday, data showed. The major causes for the pullback included a concentrated release of hidden lithium carbonate stocks when lithium prices were around Yuan 200,000/tonne that flooded the spot market, and a regulatory crackdown on invoicing among traders that strained their liquidity, leaving the spot market with limited capacity to absorb supply. Yet, the continued price cut encouraged the spot trading.

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260519

The most-traded Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX) lithium carbonate contract pulled back after hitting a year-to-date (YTD) high, with the settlement price marking a weekly contraction of 3.62% as of May 15 against the previous Friday, data showed. On the spot market, while the players have fully priced in the lithium resource supply disruptions, the slow spot transactions, capped by high lithium prices, started to weigh on the market, in addition to accumulating warrants. Yet, the lithium carbonate basis showed strength with lithium carbonate futures price turning bearish, suggesting that the sellers still held the prices firm, especially when the fundamentals remained solid.

A Glance of China Lithium-ion Battery Materials Market 20260512

The most-traded GFEX (Guangzhou Futures Exchange) lithium carbonate futures contract broke the previous rangebound and created a new year-to-date high as of Friday May 8, with the settlement price recording an uptick of around 6.59% against the pre-holiday level, data showed. On the spot market, the lithium ore sector remained active still, with traders' marketable lithium ore inventory reducing again. In addition, Mysteel's observation indicated that some lithium refineries purchased actively when lithium carbonate prices were below Yuan 195,000/tonne, and some even started to secure cargoes for the third quarter.

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.