Chinese battery grade lithium carbonate suppliers bearish about market
2023-03-06 08:32:48 [Print]
Beijing (Asian metal) 6 Mar 23 – Under the soft demand of NEV market, Chinese battery grade lithium carbonate suppliers hold bearish attitudes about the price trend and continuing reducing their prices recently. Today, the mainstream prices of Chinese lithium carbonate 99.5%min, Na 0.025%max, K 0.001%max hover at RMB355,000-360,000/t (USD51,330-52,053/t) delivered D/A 180 days, down by about RMB5,000/t (USD723/t) from this Wednesday. The market still moves slowly due to the weak demand and consumers' wait-and-see attitudes. Considering the current situation, insiders predict that the mainstream prices of Chinese battery grade lithium carbonate would decline continuously in the coming week.
"We only deal with back-to-back orders under the sharply declining prices. According to the market, we estimate that the prevailing prices of Chinese battery grade lithium carbonate would go down to RMB340,000/t (USD49,161/t) next week", said a trader in South China, who quotes RMB350,000/t (USD50,607/t) delivered D/P without any concession for lithium carbonate 99.5%min, Na 0.025%max, K 0.001%max today, while their consumers bargained for RMB335,000-340,000/t (USD48,438-49,161/t). The trader offered RMB355,000/t (USD51,330/t) delivered D/P and refused any lower prices this Wednesday, when they sold 30t at the price. The trader disclosed that their monthly trading volume reached about 600t last year, but it reduced to 250t this year dragged by the soft demand and consecutively decreasing prices.
With a regular monthly trading volume of about 250t, they plan to sell about 300t this month, up by about 100t MoM. They hold no inventory for the time being.
"As far as I know, the operating rate of the largest battery manufacturer in China is below 60%. Due to the current weak battery demand, we estimate that the mainstream prices of Chinese battery grade lithium carbonate would possibly reach RMB300,000/t (USD43,377/t) delivered D/P in the coming week", claimed a producer in South China, adding that they did not make offers proactively this week because of the rapidly declining prices and last sold 10t at RMB430,000/t (USD62,174/t) delivered D/P half a month ago when they quoted RMB440,000/t (USD63,620/t). The producer mentioned that the supply and demand of lithium carbonate in China is still in a balanced state, so they still hold optimistic attitudes towards the price trend in April. As a result, they refuse to sell at such low prices and hold back from selling now.
Based on an annual production capacity of 20,000t, they expect to produce about 700t this month after equipment maintenance, up by about 400t MoM. They hold around 300t at present.
"We only deal with back-to-back orders under the sharply declining prices. According to the market, we estimate that the prevailing prices of Chinese battery grade lithium carbonate would go down to RMB340,000/t (USD49,161/t) next week", said a trader in South China, who quotes RMB350,000/t (USD50,607/t) delivered D/P without any concession for lithium carbonate 99.5%min, Na 0.025%max, K 0.001%max today, while their consumers bargained for RMB335,000-340,000/t (USD48,438-49,161/t). The trader offered RMB355,000/t (USD51,330/t) delivered D/P and refused any lower prices this Wednesday, when they sold 30t at the price. The trader disclosed that their monthly trading volume reached about 600t last year, but it reduced to 250t this year dragged by the soft demand and consecutively decreasing prices.
With a regular monthly trading volume of about 250t, they plan to sell about 300t this month, up by about 100t MoM. They hold no inventory for the time being.
"As far as I know, the operating rate of the largest battery manufacturer in China is below 60%. Due to the current weak battery demand, we estimate that the mainstream prices of Chinese battery grade lithium carbonate would possibly reach RMB300,000/t (USD43,377/t) delivered D/P in the coming week", claimed a producer in South China, adding that they did not make offers proactively this week because of the rapidly declining prices and last sold 10t at RMB430,000/t (USD62,174/t) delivered D/P half a month ago when they quoted RMB440,000/t (USD63,620/t). The producer mentioned that the supply and demand of lithium carbonate in China is still in a balanced state, so they still hold optimistic attitudes towards the price trend in April. As a result, they refuse to sell at such low prices and hold back from selling now.
Based on an annual production capacity of 20,000t, they expect to produce about 700t this month after equipment maintenance, up by about 400t MoM. They hold around 300t at present.
