[SMM Daily Review: January 12 Spot Lithium Carbonate Prices Rose Sharply]

The SMM battery-grade lithium carbonate index was 152,463 yuan/mt, up 13,621 yuan/mt from the previous working day. SMM Battery-grade lithium carbonate traded at 148,000-156,000 yuan/mt, with an average price of 152,000 yuan/mt, up 12,000 yuan/mt from the previous working day. SMM Industrial-grade lithium carbonate traded at 145,000-152,000 yuan/mt, with an average price of 148,500 yuan/mt, up 12,000 yuan/mt from the previous working day.
Today, the most-traded lithium carbonate futures contract opened sharply higher by 9%, with the limit-up price locked at 156,060 yuan/mt and remaining limit-up throughout the session. Due to the solid limit-up trend in futures, price assessment was difficult today, and the volume of limit-up orders exceeded 20,000 lots, requiring queuing for transactions. In terms of actual transactions, the rapid price increase significantly boosted upstream spot order selling willingness, with some lithium chemical plants actively offering at prices substantially higher than current spot transaction prices. Meanwhile, long-term contract negotiations between upstream and downstream continued. The proportion of downstream spot order purchases increased YoY, and just-in-time procurement willingness also strengthened. Driven by relatively optimistic expectations for subsequent demand, downstream inquiry activity rose noticeably, and actual transactions pushed spot prices higher rapidly.