Lithium Price Review and Forecast

SHANGHAI, Feb 6 (SMM) - 

Lithium carbonate

The lithium carbonate prices dropped steadily last week. Some salt factories started to offer quotes on rising inquiries. A few deals were made, but both quotations and transaction prices were lowered. Cathode material plants focused on destocking post the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday, and the demand recovery was unclear. Therefore, some plants were still under maintenance or maintained low operating rates. Since some salt factories and cathode material plants were still under negotiations over the details of long-term orders, it is expected that lithium carbonate prices will remain on a downward path in the short term.

Lithium hydroxide

The lithium hydroxide prices fell constantly last week. Top-tier manufacturers mainly concentrated on export orders while also delivering a small amount of domestic orders. On the one hand, the overseas prices of lithium hydroxide contracted affected by the overseas supply and demand structure; on the other hand, the domestic lithium hydroxide prices also kept falling amid sluggish domestic demand. Specifically, the inquiries increased, but few transactions were made as most enterprises took a wait-and-see stance and mainstream manufacturers offered low quotations. Second-tier manufacturers mainly produced to meet domestic demand, which hardly improved after the CNY holiday. Meanwhile, the falling lithium carbonate prices also pressured the lithium hydroxide prices to decline but at a slower pace.