Aggressive Sell-Off Accelerates the Drop in Lithium Carbonate Prices

SHANGHAI, Dec 26 (SMM) - Affected by imminent removal of NEV subsidies and the weakening terminal demand, battery makers continued to reduce production and focused on destocking, hurting raw materials demand in the industry chain. Prices of lithium carbonate have been falling steadily recently. A few lithium salt smelters and traders rushed to dump their goods before the year-end, disrupting the market order. The price of battery-grade lithium carbonate dropped further to nearly 510,000 yuan/mt, and that of industrial-grade lithium carbonate fell below 500,000 yuan/mt. 

Some lithium salt smelters prioritised the delivery of long-term orders, while some were not in a hurry to sell after completing their annual sales targets. A small number of smelters expect the prices to go down further and thus sold aggressively. The raw material inventory of cathode active material manufacturers is sufficient until January next year, deterring them from buying in the short term. A small number of cathode active material manufacturers even offered to sell their own lithium raw materials due to bearish market outlook. Today, the average price of SMM battery-grade lithium carbonate was 531,000 yuan/mt, a decrease of 15,000 yuan/mt, or 2.7%, from last Friday. The SMM battery-grade lithium carbonate index was 545,600 yuan/mt, down 6,200 yuan/mt, or 1.1%.