Spot lithium carbonate prices accelerated their rise this week. The average SMM battery-grade lithium carbonate price rose continuously from 119,500 yuan/mt at the beginning of the week (January 5) to 138,500 yuan/mt on Thursday (January 8), accumulating a weekly increase of 19,000 yuan/mt, a weekly gain of approximately 15.9%. The average industrial-grade lithium carbonate price increased from 117,000 yuan/mt to 135,000 yuan/mt, accumulating an increase of 18,000 yuan/mt. The futures market saw a more significant rise, with the price range of the most-traded contract quickly climbing from 122,700-130,300 yuan/mt to 136,000-149,000 yuan/mt, and it once hit the upper limit during mid-week.
In terms of actual market transactions, as the proportion of long-term agreements signed between upstream and downstream enterprises this year decreased compared to the previous year and progress was slow, the sales strategies of upstream lithium chemical plants were shifting, with an increased willingness to sell spot orders, while the delivery volume of long-term agreement orders contracted accordingly. Currently, with the rapid price increase, the sentiment among upstream lithium chemical plants has diverged. Some lithium chemical plants showed an increased willingness to sell spot orders, but there were also enterprises holding back goods and adopting a wait-and-see approach; in contrast, downstream cathode material plants generally had low acceptance of the current high price levels, but some enterprises were forced to accept high-priced supplies due to rigid demand to maintain production. Overall market wait-and-see sentiment thickened after the price rise, and actual transactions were slightly sluggish.
