[SMM Analysis] Lithium Hydroxide Production Surged 26% MoM in September, October Output Is Expected to Remain Flat

According to SMM data, domestic lithium hydroxide production surged 26% MoM in September, driven primarily by two factors. On the smelting side, enterprises that had undergone maintenance earlier resumed production, coupled with flexible output adjustments by certain companies in response to order increases, leading to a slight rise in output. Additionally, the price spread between lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate turned negative, incentivizing some enterprises with flexible production lines to increase lithium hydroxide output, contributing partially to the overall production growth and helping smelting-side output increase 19% MoM from the previous month. On the causticisation side, production resumptions by salt lake enterprises and solid order books at certain companies jointly contributed to a significant production increase.

Looking ahead to October, with some new production lines on the smelting side continuing to ramp up slightly and relatively stable production schedules on the causticisation side, overall output is expected to remain flat MoM but decline 12% YoY.