[SMM Weekly Review] Lithium Carbonate Prices Continue to Decline, Short-Term Market Remains Under Pressure

This week, the spot price of lithium carbonate continued to decline, with the SMM Lithium Carbonate Index price falling from 63,974 yuan/mt to 63,380 yuan/mt, showing an overall trend of fluctuating downward.

Supply side, news of maintenance, production cuts, and shutdowns at upstream lithium chemical plants spread frequently this week. In response to these market developments, some companies have indeed implemented maintenance and shutdown plans, while the maintenance schedules of others remain to be further confirmed. Meanwhile, amidst the hedging opportunities presented by the slight rebound in the futures market, some non-integrated lithium chemical plants are expected to show signs of production resumptions or output increases. Overall, while the reduction in output due to maintenance has somewhat suppressed the total production of lithium carbonate, overall supply is expected to remain at a relatively high level.

Although downstream demand also saw a certain increase in May, due to the currently large proportion of customer-supplied and long-term agreement volumes, and with the continuous decline in prices, downstream material plants are generally adopting a cautious wait-and-see attitude, making it difficult for spot order transactions to support market confidence.

Raw material ore side, prices also continued to decline, and no mines have announced production cuts or shutdowns so far. Amidst the weakening cost support, lithium carbonate prices lack upward momentum.

Against the backdrop of an unchanged oversupply situation in supply and demand, the lithium carbonate market will continue to face downward pressure in the short term.