SHANGHAI, Apr 19 (SMM) - Since April 8, the average spot price of domestic battery-grade lithium carbonate has been moving all the way down, and recorded six consecutive trading days of decline not seen since 2021. Yesterday, the average price of domestic battery-grade lithium carbonate lost another 1,500 yuan/mt to 492,500 yuan/mt, which was 10,000 yuan/mt lower than the previous high, a drop of 2.03%.
The domestic battery-grade lithium hydroxide prices, which were immune to decline when the price of lithium carbonate had been falling all the way, also ushered in a decline for the second consecutive trading day yesterday. SMM data showed that the average price of domestic battery-grade lithium hydroxide fell 1,000 yuan/mt to 490,000 yuan/mt yesterday.
Spot price of lithium hexafluorophosphate fell by 8,000 yuan/mt to 470,500 yuan/mt. Yesterday was the 9th consecutive trading day that the price of lithium hexafluorophosphate has fallen after entering downward channel on April 6. Compared with the previous high of 525,000 yuan/mt, it has fell by 54,500 yuan/mt, a drop of 10.38%.
Large lithium carbonate smelters lowered prices only slightly, while sell-off by small and medium-sized smelters at much lower prices dragged down market prices. The overall price gap widened. Although the deadlock between upstream and downstream producers continued, the price support has gradually weakened amid falling demand. In terms of lithium hydroxide, the price decline was mainly due to the decline in the price of lithium carbonate and the continuous weakening of downstream procurement demand amid pandemic control. SMM predicts that the price of lithium hydroxide may continue to decline slightly under the influence of the above-mentioned two factors.
In terms of lithium hexafluorophosphate, the price drop was due to increasing supply caused by the continuous release of capacity.
It is worth mentioning that the impact of the pandemic on the lithium battery industry chain may far exceed expectations. Affected by the reduction and suspension of production by car companies in Shanghai and surrounding areas, SMM expects that battery material purchases by battery makers may fall over 15% in April-May. At present, the supply of lithium is increasing month-on-month, while the demand has fallen sharply. Lithium prices will remain in the downward trajectory as the lithium salt market has shifted from supply deficit to surplus.
The positive news is that the MIIT paid a visit to Shanghai to encourage local key industries such as automobile manufacturing to resume production. Tesla and SAIC are among the first batch of companies approved to resume production.
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