SHANGHAI, Dec 29 (SMM) - Recently, the price of lithium carbonate has been falling day by day. The followings are SMM updates on the production schedule changes of some enterprises in lithium battery industry chain.
Demand side:

Cathode active material producers tend to further lower their production plans amid falling orders from battery makers.

Enterprise A: It is one of the top ternary cathode material enterprises and is estimated to reduce production by nearly 40% in December, with further reductions expected in the future. Enterprise B: It is one of the major ternary cathode material enterprises and is estimated to reduce production by 23% in December, with neutral views over demand outlook. Enterprise C: It is one of the top LFP enterprises and is estimated to reduce production by 30-40% in December, with slight output reductions expected in the future. Enterprise D: It is one of the top LFP enterprises and is estimated to reduce production by 5-10% in December, with high possibility of further output reductions in the future.

Battery makers also cut output due to the pandemic, destocking, weakening terminal demand and pessimism over consumption in the first quarter.

Enterprise A: It is a top battery maker, with estimated output cuts of 10-20% in December and 40-50% in January. Enterprise B: It is among the top-tier battery makers, with output projected to fall 13% MoM in December. It plans to close in January.  

On the supply side: Lithium salt supply is expected to decline month-on-month i December, dragged down by environmental protection policy, maintenance, and cold weather in winter.

(1) Enterprise A: It uses spodumene as raw materials and is under normal production in December, and will remain under normal production in January. (2) Enterprise B: It uses mica as raw materials. Affected by environmental protection incident Jiangxi in December, its output is expected to decrease about 40-50% this month. It plans to shut down in January for the Chinese New Year. (3) Enterprise C: It is a medium-sized enterprise that uses spodumene as raw materials. It was overhauled for a week in December, which is expected to reduce its output by 30%. Normal production is expected in January. (4) Enterprise D: It is a leading salt lake enterprise. Affected by lower temperature in December, its output may decrease 13% month-on-month. It is expected that its output will stabilise in January.