Lithium-ion battery output up 9.4% YoY in Jan-Nov

Ganfeng Lithium, a top lithium producer in China, has said it is stepping up efforts to construct a lithium hydroxide expansion project, with an annualised capacity of 50,000 mt, to catch up with the schedule delayed by the coronavirus outbreak. The project is slated to come online in Q4 this year.

The short-term supply tightness of cobalt raw materials lifted cobalt salt prices last week, but limited trades and continued weakness in consumption may cap any rebound in the near-term prices. Prices of lithium carbonate will unlikely to extend declines given the raw materials costs and the trade prospects in Q2 this year. 

China's Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group said Tuesday that it had put its new lithium hydroxide project in the city of Ya’an in southwest China's Sichuan province into operation.

China’s spodumene concentrate inventories saw an addition of 3,343 mt of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in the first quarter, which together with an inventory draw of 1,765 mt of LCE in overseas stocks, led to a build of 1,578 mt of LCE in the global spodumene inventories in Q1, showed SMM calculations. 

Primary lead output in China expanded significantly last month, as some large smelters recovered from maintenance and small and medium-sized smelters reopened after the spread of the coronavirus in the country came under control. China’s output of primary lead increased 11.94% from February to 240,000 mt in March, to produce a year-over-year decline of 7.03%. Output in the first three months of 2020 was 6.13% lower than the same period the year before.

Full resumption of industrial production is expected across China on March 15, including producers in Hubei, the epicentre of the coronavirus, the latest SMM survey showed. Companies in Hubei are currently in preparation for the recovery. The operating rates of Chinese cobalt salts plants are expected to rise to normal levels in March, from only 30-40% in February. As of March 11, the rates stood at 50-60% for most cobalt salts mills.

Major downstream producers will continue to purchase feedstock to fulfil orders received pre-holiday, and this will support cobalt salts prices in the second half of February. 

The upward trend in overseas prices of refined cobalt will support bullish prospects for domestic prices

Increase in seaborne prices of cobalt boosted domestic cobalt prices last week

Lithium carbonate prices will see further downsides until the Chinese New Year holiday