Spodumene concentrates arriving at Chinese ports will remain relatively high

In October, spodumene concentrate imports fell 7% MoM to 464,700 mt, mainly due to a 13% drop from Australia, which made up 74.5% of imports at 345,904 mt. Sichuan and Jiangxi maintained high Australian lithium concentrate volumes, but other regions saw declines.

Domestic lithium salt producers will reduce their imports from Australia, the amount of concentrate sent to Sichuan will continue to decline. Yet, Australian mine spot prices could drop to manage shipping volumes and supply to other areas. 6% lithium spodumene concentrate spot prices may drop to $1,000-$1,200/mt. Cathode makers, facing battery cell plant price pressures, are looking to Africa for direct spodumene sources to try to cut costs. It is expected that the volume of spodumene concentrate arriving at ports will remain relatively high.