Weekly Overview of Lithium Carbonate Market: Prices Stabilize as Tug-of-War Between Sellers and Buyers Continues [SMM Weekly Review]

This week, the domestic lithium carbonate market exhibited a trend of initial decline followed by stabilization, with the price fluctuation range gradually narrowing. At the beginning of the week, the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate slightly declined from 60,500 yuan/mt to 60,450 yuan/mt, while the average price of industrial-grade lithium carbonate also pulled back to 58,850 yuan/mt. In the latter half of the week, the market stabilized. As of June 19, the average prices of battery-grade and industrial-grade lithium carbonate held steady at 60,450 yuan/mt and 58,850 yuan/mt, respectively. Overall, the price center of spot lithium carbonate shifted slightly downward WoW, but the decline significantly slowed down. From the perspective of the supply-demand pattern, the current lithium carbonate market remains in a state of loose supply. Although upstream lithium chemical plants intend to refuse to budge on prices, there is an ample supply of marketable goods, and inventory pressure limits the upward momentum of prices. Downstream material enterprises maintain a cautious procurement strategy, primarily focusing on restocking based on demand, and there has been no significant demand for stockpiling yet.

It is worth noting that the lithium carbonate futures market, which was previously disrupted by macro sentiment, gradually returned to being dominated by fundamental factors this week, with a significant narrowing of the fluctuation range, aligning with the trend of the spot market. Market transactions were relatively sluggish, mainly driven by rigid demand.

Looking ahead, against the backdrop of the supply-demand imbalance not yet being substantially alleviated, the lithium carbonate price is expected to continue fluctuating at lows.