SHANGHAI, Apr 14 (SMM) - The price of battery-grade lithium carbonate started a downward trend on April 8. As of today, the prices of battery-grade lithium carbonate were 488,000-500,000 yuan/mt, and the average price has dropped by 8,500 yuan/mt from April 7. Up to now, the quotations of many leading smelters in Sichuan, Jiangxi and other regions have not been significantly lowered, and the mainstream traded prices were still 490,000-500,000 yuan/mt. Some small and medium-sized smelters were in a rush to sell and lowered their quotations significantly. The transaction prices were mostly around 470,000 yuan/mt, but the transaction volume was mostly below 200 mt. The trading volume of battery-grade lithium carbonate by traders was relatively small, and the prices were mostly in the range of 450,000-460,000 yuan/mt. The overall price gap widened. Although the deadlock between upstream and downstream producers continued, the price support has gradually weakened amid falling demand.

In terms of industrial-grade lithium carbonate, after the top salt lake companies sold lithium carbonate at lower prices, the rest currently focus on delivery of long-term orders. There were only a few quotations, and the traded prices declined. Traders rushed to sell at around 450,000 yuan/mt, and the downward trend was obvious.