Weekly review of lithium salt: the price of lithium carbonate rebounded slightly due to the market sentiment within the week
Jan,21,24
Weekly review of lithium salt: the price of lithium carbonate rebounded slightly due to the market sentiment within the week
The price of lithium carbonate market rose slightly this week. The average domestic price of industrial lithium carbonate this week was 88100 yuan/ton, 0.57% higher than the average price of the previous week. The average domestic price of battery grade lithium carbonate was 96400 yuan/ton, up 0.31% from the average price of the previous week. The average domestic price of battery grade lithium hydroxide is 85000 yuan/ton, which is temporarily stable compared with the average price of the previous week.
As the price of lithium ore weakens and approaches the domestic mining cost line, the lithium ore production starts at a low load. Lithium salt smelting enterprises gradually entered the pace of Spring Festival maintenance and production reduction, and production scheduling continued to decline. A few small enterprises have shut down production. The foundry has basically shut down production, and the large lithium salt plant has temporarily maintained its operation. In January, the supply side weakened as a whole. On the demand side, the overall orders in the first quarter were weak, the overall demand was cold and gradually fulfilled, and some downstream positive enterprises purchased a small amount of steel demand. The supply and demand of the fundamentals are weak, and the news is slightly disturbed. The price of lithium salt may maintain range fluctuations.
The spot cost of lithium carbonate mainstream process continues to decrease slightly with raw materials. The cost of spodumene process in Australia is 92-90600 yuan/ton, the cost of lepidolite process in Jiangxi is 86-9000 yuan/ton, and the cost of African spodumene process is 84-80800 yuan/ton. At the end of the year, some lithium salt plants were overhauled, and the downstream standby warehouse was nearing the end. However, the arrival of lithium ore remained at a normal level, and the market inventory was accumulated, so the ore price was still slightly down. According to the current spot price of 95000 yuan of lithium carbonate, the lithium salt plant importing lithium ore was still in a certain loss. In the short term, the ore price support was insufficient, and it was currently in the off-season of consumption. It was expected that the market price of raw materials would remain weak next week.
According to the purchase and sales quotation of battery grade lithium carbonate of China Lithium Industry High Technology Co., Ltd., the market showed a volatile trend this week. On the 15th, the market opened near 98000 yuan/ton, and on the 16th, the price of the market rose to 102000 yuan/ton. Then on the 17th, the price fell back to 98500 yuan, and by the end of this week, the market price had basically remained around 99000 yuan. With the approaching of the Spring Festival, the strength of terminal procurement replenishment may be weakened, and the demand is expected to further weaken. With the further close linkage between the market and spot prices, under the background of weak supply and demand in the fundamentals, it is expected that the market price will remain weak and volatile.
