Weekly Review of the Lithium Carbonate Market: Lithium Carbonate Prices Continue to Rise [SMM Weekly Review]

Published: Dec 31, 2025 17:27

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Lithium carbonate prices continued to rise this week. The SMM battery-grade lithium carbonate average price increased by 6,100 yuan/mt on Monday (December 29) to 118,000 yuan/mt, then stabilized over the next two days, edging up by 500 yuan/mt to 118,500 yuan/mt on Wednesday (December 31), with the weekly price center holding steady at a high of 118,000 yuan/mt. Industrial-grade lithium carbonate followed a similar trend, with the average price rising from 109,250 yuan/mt to 115,500 yuan/mt. Futures market volatility intensified, with the most-traded contract trading in the range of 115,400-124,400 yuan/mt and hitting the downside limit on December 29, with an intraday decline exceeding 8%.

Market trading activity eased slightly compared to the previous period. Upstream lithium chemical plants continued to prioritize fulfilling long-term contract orders, leaving limited spot order supply. Downstream material plants generally remained cautious, mainly maintaining production through long-term contracts and customer-supplied channels. However, when futures prices pulled back, some enterprises made purchases and restocked due to rigid demand, leading to a slight improvement in overall market trading activity compared to previous weeks.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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