Sentiment Of Lithium Carbonate Sellers Improves And Price Decline Slows Down After Maintenance Announcement By A Major Producer

SHANGHAI, Sep 27 (SMM) – The SMM battery-grade lithium carbonate index was 172,061 yuan/mt today, a decrease of 1,341 yuan/mt from the previous working day. Battery-grade lithium carbonate price range was 160,000-178,000 yuan/mt, a decrease of 1,000 yuan/mt from the previous working day; industrial-grade lithium carbonate price range was 150,000-162,000 yuan/mt, down 1,000 yuan/mt. Today, Chinese lithium salt giant Zhicun Lithium announced that it has decided to overhaul some equipment from September 29 to October 25, 2023. It is expected that this maintenance will reduce the company’s lithium carbonate production by 3,000 mt in October.

As the price of lithium salts continues to decline in recent times, the losses of lithium salt companies who source raw materials externally have expanded. Due to heavy losses, some companies have begun to refrain from sharp price cuts and gradually reduced or suspended production. The upcoming maintenance by Zhicun has boosted the sentiment of some upstream lithium salt manufacturers. At present, downstream demand has not yet improved, and buyers are generally not in a high mood to stock up before the upcoming week-long holiday. Against the background of deadlock between upstream and downstream, the decline in lithium salt price has shown signs of narrowing.