SMM Daily Review: 7 August – Spot Prices for Lithium Carbonate Continue to Rise

Published: Aug 9, 2026 12:37

Save

[SMM Daily Review: 7 August – Spot Prices for Lithium Carbonate Continue to Rise]

Today, SMM’s spot prices for battery-grade lithium carbonate continued to rise compared with the previous working day. The lithium carbonate 2609 futures contract opened higher today at 142,900 yuan per tonne; after opening, it briefly dipped to around 141,000 yuan per tonne before finding support, with bullish capital driving a volatile rebound; During the morning session, prices fluctuated firmly within the 142,000–143,500 yuan range, with the centre of gravity gradually shifting upwards; as the morning session drew to a close, bulls made a concerted push, driving prices rapidly to 144,800 yuan per tonne—an intraday high—before encountering selling pressure from bears and profit-taking, leading to a volatile pullback; In the afternoon, prices continued to weaken and broke below the moving average line; towards the close, short sellers applied pressure once more, causing prices to accelerate their decline to 139,600 yuan per tonne. The market ultimately closed down 0.7 per cent at 140,000 yuan per tonne, with open interest falling by 7,873 contracts.

In the spot market, downstream buyers purchased on an as-needed basis at lower levels, with little enthusiasm for large-scale stockpiling; whilst some upstream manufacturers showed a slightly weaker willingness to support prices, most continued to prioritise fulfilling long-term contract orders due to maintenance work, resulting in limited sales of spot orders. Overall, both market enquiries and actual transactions remained relatively stable.

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.

For any inquiries or for more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

2 hours ago

[SMM Analysis] V-Shaped Rebound Followed by High-Level Fluctuations, Tight Balance Persists

2 hours ago

[SMM Analysis] Monthly Summary of Lithium Carbonate Market – July 2026

2 hours ago

SMM Daily Review: 3 August – Spot Lithium Carbonate Continues to Fall

[SMM Daily Review: 3 August – Spot Lithium Carbonate Continues to Fall] Today, SMM’s spot price for battery-grade lithium carbonate continued to fall compared with the previous working day. The lithium carbonate 2609 contract opened lower today at 137,500 yuan per tonne; following the opening, it fluctuated lower and quickly dipped, touching a low of 135,600 yuan per tonne; Subsequently, long positions drove a volatile rebound, with the price fluctuating around the moving average line during the morning session; as the morning session drew to a close, long positions intensified, propelling the price to rapidly break through the 140,000 yuan mark and surge to 140,800 yuan per tonne. In the afternoon, the price retreated amid selling pressure from short positions and profit-taking, and consolidated within a narrow range of 138,800–139,000 yuan per tonne towards the close, eventually closing down 1.15% at 138,900 yuan per tonne, with open interest decreasing by 3,474 contracts. In the spot market, as it was the first working day of the month, downstream material manufacturers began dispatching goods under long-term contracts and for customer orders; spot buyers remained cautious, purchasing only on an as-needed basis when prices were relatively low. Upstream lithium salt producers continued to maintain their willingness to support prices for spot sales, with the focus at the start of the month on ensuring supply through long-term contracts and contract volume increases. Overall, the level of activity in market enquiries and actual transactions declined somewhat.

2 hours ago