Prices of Most Lithium Battery Materials Trended Lower in April amid Poor End Demand

SHANGHAI, May 16 (SMM) - Prices of cobalt products fell across the board in April, with cobalt sulphate and cobalt chloride prices down 12% and 10% month-on-month respectively. The intermediate cobalt product prices edged lower with expanding supply, which, coupled with the continuous decline in overseas refined cobalt prices, dragged down cobalt salt prices in China. Besides, the overall downstream demand remained poor in spite of a slight recovery of demand from the electronics sector.

The prices of battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide shed 39% MoM and 37% MoM respectively in April. In the first half of the month, downstream companies took a wait-and-see approach towards lithium salt restocking since there was no obvious recovery in end demand, when some traders dumped their goods. As a result, the lithium salt prices kept falling. In the second half of the month, suppliers tended to be cautious in shipments because of the speculation of some market participants. Therefore, the spot prices of lithium salt stabilised on market sentiment support and finally rebounded somewhat at the end of the month.