China produced 12,480 mt of lithium carbonate in January, down 15.1% on the month, but up 21.3% on the year.

According to customs data, imports of lithium carbonate totalled 5,218 mt in September, up 53.7% from August and 155.5% from a year ago; the average import price stood at $4,185/mt, down 13.8% on the month and 45% on the year.

The overall prices of battery-grade lithium carbonate have shown a downward trend since the beginning of the year, according to an SMM survey.

Phase-one project is designed with an annualised capacity of 15,000 mt of lithium hydroxide and 10,000 mt of lithium carbonate. Full operation of the second phase of the project is expected to bring about an output value of 3.3 billion yuan per year. 

The global widespread of COVID-19 has forced many countries to enforce stringent containment measures which result in a heavy impact on global economic activity. Over the past few months, we saw serious disruption of manpower, transportation and production in China. We are now seeing these scenarios happening around the world.

Prices of battery-grade nickel sulphate, a raw material used to produce electric vehicle batteries, halted their decline that lasted for much of March, and edged higher as of March 30, as concerns about feedstock supply disruption intensified after Papua New Guinea banned vessels at ports to stop the spread of the COVID-19.

Manufacturing activities across nickel downstream sectors in China expanded in March after contracting for eleven consecutive months, as factories get back to business amid the easing of movement restrictions from COVID-19.

Prices of industrial-grade lithium carbonate eased on Monday March 30 after held firm for most of March, showed SMM assessments. Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices, however, are expected to face..

The most-active silicon manganese contract for May delivery on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (CZCE) surged to its maximum daily limit of 6% to a nearly seven-month high of 6,950 yuan/mt on March 26, as a nationwide lockdown of major ore supplier South Africa exacerbated supply woes. South Africa has imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown from midnight on Thursday, in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

China's ternary precursor market will likely face continued headwinds of falling export orders for digital batteries and delays in recovery of new energy vehicle demand, as the global spread of the coronavirus has yet to show signs of slowing. This is expected to expand the downside room in ternary precursor prices this week.