Chinese LCO producers maintain prices steady
2024-04-17 08:32:28 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 17 Apr 24 - As top battery grade lithium carbonate producers still hold their prices firm, Chinese LCO producers maintain prices steady today. Currently, the mainstream prices of Chinese LCO hover at RMB170-175/kg (USD23.9-24.6/kg) delivered D/A 180 days, without much change from late last week. Given the downward trend of lithium carbonate prices, insiders predict that the mainstream prices of Chinese LCO would go down this week.
"As we still couldn't buy battery grade lithium carbonate at prices lower than RMB115,000/t (USD16,191/t) delivered D/A 180 days from top producers, we maintain our prices of LCO stable at RMB175/kg (USD24.6/kg) delivered D/A 180 days today, the same as late last week", noted a producer in Hunan, who sells 30t at RMB177/kg (USD24.9/kg) today and 20t at the same price late last week. They producer discloses that as the current LCO prices have limited room to go down, downstream consumers could stock up on inventory for 10-15 days this month, compared to only one week of inventory before March. Given that the top producers of battery grade lithium carbonate refuse to decrease their prices, they predict that the prevailing prices of Chinese LCO would stay flat this week.
With an annual production capacity of 8,500t, they plan to produce about 600t this month, up by about 300t MoM. They hold no stock for the time being. The producer produced about 2,800t in total in 2023.
"We fail to receive any inquiry this week due to the soft demand of consumers, as a result, we hold our offer stable at RMB175/kg (USD24.6/kg) delivered D/A180 days, but for firm bids, we could consider the price as low as RMB170/kg (USD23.9/kg) today", stated another producer in North China, adding that they last sold 10t at RMB170/kg (USD23.9/kg) late last week. Considering the weak demand, they anticipate that the mainstream prices of Chinese LCO would go down slightly this week.
The producer, with an annual production capacity of 8,000t, aims to produce roughly 350t this month, without much change from last month. They hold no stock now.
"As we still couldn't buy battery grade lithium carbonate at prices lower than RMB115,000/t (USD16,191/t) delivered D/A 180 days from top producers, we maintain our prices of LCO stable at RMB175/kg (USD24.6/kg) delivered D/A 180 days today, the same as late last week", noted a producer in Hunan, who sells 30t at RMB177/kg (USD24.9/kg) today and 20t at the same price late last week. They producer discloses that as the current LCO prices have limited room to go down, downstream consumers could stock up on inventory for 10-15 days this month, compared to only one week of inventory before March. Given that the top producers of battery grade lithium carbonate refuse to decrease their prices, they predict that the prevailing prices of Chinese LCO would stay flat this week.
With an annual production capacity of 8,500t, they plan to produce about 600t this month, up by about 300t MoM. They hold no stock for the time being. The producer produced about 2,800t in total in 2023.
"We fail to receive any inquiry this week due to the soft demand of consumers, as a result, we hold our offer stable at RMB175/kg (USD24.6/kg) delivered D/A180 days, but for firm bids, we could consider the price as low as RMB170/kg (USD23.9/kg) today", stated another producer in North China, adding that they last sold 10t at RMB170/kg (USD23.9/kg) late last week. Considering the weak demand, they anticipate that the mainstream prices of Chinese LCO would go down slightly this week.
The producer, with an annual production capacity of 8,000t, aims to produce roughly 350t this month, without much change from last month. They hold no stock now.
