Lithium Carbonate Prices Gained 2,000 yuan/mt Today!

SHANGHAI, Jun 7 (SMM) - Recently, with the national and local policies to promote the consumption of new energy vehicles, automotive and lithium battery-related stocks continue to outperform. And there have been frequent news of production expansion and commencement with optimism in the long term.

On the news front, Yahua Group released its 2022 mid-year earnings preannouncement. The company expects a net profit of 2.122-2.372 billion yuan in the first half of 2022, an increase of 542.79-618.52%. For the reasons of the company's prosperity, Yahua Group said that during the reporting period, the climate index in the lithium industry continued to pick up, and the demand for lithium salts continued to grow with prices remaining high. The Company has seized the opportunity to increase the production and sales of lithium salt products, resulting in a significant increase in operating profit.

In addition, according to a report released by Australian lithium miner Allkem on June 6, the actual average price of lithium carbonate in the second quarter is expected to be approximately 14% above the previous guidance, and spodumene output in the financial year of 2022 is likely to be 2-4% less than the target.

And according to SMM Prices, in the first quarter of 2022, lithium salt prices climbed extremely fast led by battery-grade lithium carbonate from 278,000 yuan/mt at the beginning of the year to 503,000 yuan/mt in mid-to-late March.

Lithium carbonate prices maintained its multi-year high after peaking in March despite slight correction, and the spot prices began to rise again though slowly in the past three weeks. As of June 7, the spot price of domestic battery-grade lithium carbonate stood between 456,000-475,000 yuan/mt, an average of 465,500 yuan/mt with a single day increase of nearly 2,000 yuan/mt, according to SMM Prices.

For the reason of the recent price hike of lithium carbonate, SMM research shows that cathode active material manufacturers ramped up their purchases of lithium carbonate after the pandemic situation eased, and the traders were also quite optimistic over the price outlook. SMM expects that lithium carbonate prices will rise steadily with the gradual recovery of demand.