Cobalt prices lack upward momentum as demand remains weak

SHANGHAI, Apr 8 (SMM) – Chinese major producers of cobalt hiked offers last week, and this prompted distributors with low inventories to step up restocking, worrying about higher prices near term. However, most downstream consumers hesitated over higher prices, and this cap any upward momentum in domestic prices of cobalt this week. 

A lack of support from downstream demand across cobalt salt producers dragged on trades of cobalt metal in the latter half of last week, SMM learned. 

Overseas prices of cobalt extended their increase from a week earlier, but still stood some 30,000 yuan/mt lower than prices in Chinese markets. 

As of Thursday April 4, high-end traded prices of battery-grade lithium carbonate slid to 79,000 yuan/mt, while low-end prices stood steady at 75,000 yuan/mt. Spot trades above prices of 78,000 yuan/mt were few and trades were barely heard at 80,000 yuan/mt. 

SMM remains bearish about prices of lithium carbonate in the medium- to long- term as demand is unlikely to improve considerably. This is even as a transition period for the phase-out of new energy vehicle subsidies, from March 26 to June 25, may increase demand of lithium carbonate from auto battery producers. 

Prices of lithium hydroxide varied based on their qualities. As of Thursday, the price spread between coarse and fine particle lithium hydroxide of battery grade stood at 10,000-15,000 yuan/mt. 

While some large battery producers purchased coarse particle lithium hydroxide at a low of 90,000 yuan/mt, prices of high-grade fine particle lithium hydroxide used as ternary cathode materials held firm above 105,000 yuan/mt. 

Last week, trades for battery-grade coarse particle lithium hydroxide mostly occurred at 93,000 yuan/mt, and trades for fine particle lithium hydroxide at 103,000 yuan/mt.