[SMM Weekly Review] Weekly Market Trend of Spot Lithium Hydroxide at 6.3-6.5

This week, lithium hydroxide prices continued to decline. In terms of market sentiment, most ternary cathode material manufacturers had limited demand for spot orders and weak purchase intentions. Upstream, due to high inventory levels and relatively limited shipping channels, the attitude of refusing to budge on prices has softened somewhat. Coupled with the continuous decline in lithium carbonate prices and the relatively low lithium ore prices, which have led to a weakening of cost support, this has dragged down lithium hydroxide prices.

On the supply side, lithium hydroxide production in May remained basically stable MoM: some companies' new production lines have achieved a certain level of production ramp-up, contributing a certain increase to overall output, but the overall impact was not significant. In June, individual smelting companies are expected to halt production for technological transformation, but at the same time, the production ramp-up of new production lines at some companies will supplement overall output. Overall, after accounting for increases and decreases, production schedules remained basically flat MoM.

On the demand side, from the perspective of production schedules, ternary cathode material production remained relatively stable or slightly weak MoM. There were no significant changes in end-use demand, and the demand passed up to the material side remained almost at the May level.

In terms of supply-demand balance, lithium hydroxide production and sales in June are expected to remain relatively stable. The volume of imports and exports may continue to be low due to weak overseas demand, and the monthly balance is likely to maintain the recent trend of a slight surplus. Currently, with the continuous decline in discounts for long-term agreements and spot orders, the upward channel is blocked, and the downward price trend is evident.