Chinese lithium carbonate smelters were able to make profits last year by using imported lithium concentrate in their production and selling lithium carbonate at a later time as lithium carbonate prices were in an upward trend, even when lithium concentrate import prices were higher than lithium carbonate prices.
However, this situation has completely reversed this year with the cliff-like fall in domestic lithium carbonate prices from last year's peak of 600,000 yuan/mt to the current less than 200,000 yuan/mt.
As it normally takes one month and a half for overseas lithium concentrate to arrive in China, the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate on April 14 (192,500 yuan/mt) and spodumene concentrate (6%) CIF China on March 1 ($5,300/mt) are used to illustrate the situation that domestic lithium carbonate smelters are in.
Based on this calculation formula, importing lithium concentrate and then making it into lithium carbonate for sale in the domestic market would incur losses of up to 163,100 yuan/mt.

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