Price trend

According to the data monitoring of SunSirs, the price of lithium carbonate continued to rise since March. The average price of industrial-grade lithium carbonate in East China on March 3 was 82,800 RMB/ton, a 6.7% increase compared with the beginning of the week (the average price of industrial-grade lithium carbonate in East China was 77,600 RMB/ton on March 1). The average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate in East China on March 3 was 87,800 RMB/ton, an increase of 6.04% compared with the beginning of the week (the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate in East China was 82,800 RMB/ton on March 1). On the 3rd, the comprehensive quotation of the industrial grade lithium carbonate market was around 78,000~85,000 RMB/ton, and the comprehensive quotation of the battery-grade lithium carbonate market was around 85,000~90,000 RMB/ton.

Analysis review

From the observation of market changes, the resumption of production and work in various industries began to improve in March, and industry production was also on the right track. Therefore, starting from March, the purchase of raw materials by downstream companies has gradually increased and concentrated. At present, the production of lithium carbonate is gradually recovering, and the market inventory situation will improve. As market activity increases, demand will also increase substantially.

The price of downstream industrial grade lithium hydroxide has shown an upward trend. Recently, the market transaction volume has increased significantly, and the cost of raw materials has risen, and the price has risen significantly. In the lithium iron phosphate power market, the price rose slightly. Due to the sharp increase in the upstream price of lithium carbonate and the shortage of raw materials such as iron phosphate, it is difficult for iron-lithium companies to purchase low-priced sources, cost pressures increased, and quotations increased. The rising price of lithium carbonate will also drive the prices of other lithium salts and lithium raw materials to continue to rise.

According to the price monitoring of SunSirs, the lithium carbonate commodity index on March 2 was 205.35, an increase of 7.64 points from previous day, and a decrease of 49.31% from the highest point in the cycle of 405.10 (2018-01-07), and an increase of 108.39% from the lowest point of 98.54 on October 16, 2014. (Note: Period refers to 2011-09-01 to present)

Market outlook

Lithium carbonate analysts of SunSirs believe that market activity began to rise in March, and upstream and downstream production will be on the right track. Therefore, relatively intensive procurement will drive prices up. It is expected that there is still room for short-term lithium carbonate prices to rise.

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