This week, the spot price of lithium carbonate has shown a trend of stabilization and rebound. The SMM battery-grade lithium carbonate index price rose from 61,393 yuan/mt to 62,054 yuan/mt, with an increase of approximately 650 yuan/mt. The average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate increased from 61,300 yuan/mt at the beginning of the week to 62,100 yuan/mt. The average price of industrial-grade lithium carbonate also climbed from 59,700 yuan/mt to 60,500 yuan/mt. The price increase was mainly driven by the expected improvement in demand in July and some rigid procurement orders, coupled with the irrational impact of unverified rumors in the market. However, the overall market remains in a state of "upstream refusing to budge on prices, downstream driving down prices."
On the supply side, there is an abundant supply of lithium carbonate in the market, and the inventory pressure in the industry has not been effectively alleviated. Smelters maintain high quotes. However, downstream cathode material plants' procurement is still mainly based on rigid demand, and their willingness to build up inventory has not significantly increased. Overall market transactions remain sluggish. Although there is an expected increase in production schedules in July on the demand side, the actual recovery situation still needs to be observed, and the wait-and-see sentiment remains strong. If the production schedules of cathode material plants increase as expected in July, it may further support prices; otherwise, inventory pressure may once again suppress the upside room for prices. Overall, the lithium carbonate market is still in the process of rebalancing supply and demand, and it may maintain a fluctuating trend in the short term.
