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Prices in the rest of the world remained unchanged week on week.
China’s battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide market outlook remains pessimistic with most consumers operating with low levels of material in stock purchasing material on a weekly basis to achieve lower prices.
Most battery-grade lithium carbonate market activity took place at or below 70,000 yuan ($10,175) per tonne while lithium producers in China want to secure sales amid current poor consumption.
Fastmarkets’ assessed the lithium carbonate, 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, exw domestic China, spot price at 67,000-70,000 yuan per tonne on Thursday July 25, down from 67,000-72,000 yuan per tonne the previous week.
“The lithium market remains sluggish with limited deals concluded. We have been offering material but so far most of consumers have no interest,” a lithium producer told Fastmarkets. “It’s hard to achieve prices above 70,000 yuan per tonne and most market activity is happening below 70,000 yuan per tonne for battery-grade lithium carbonate.”
“I think it will still be hard for lithium producers in August because demand might not improve,” the producer added.
Technical and industrial-grade lithium carbonate price also decreased week on week due to sluggish purchasing from battery makers that manufacture lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, who can also use technical-grade lithium carbonate.
Fasmarkets last assessed the Chinese domestic lithium carbonate 99% Li2CO3 min, technical and industrial grade, ex-works, spot market price at 58,000-63,000 yuan per tonne on Thursday, down from 59,000-65,000 yuan per tonne the previous week.
Battery-grade lithium hydroxide prices have also declined over the week due to slow market activity. Buyers remain reluctant to place new orders and are operating on low levels of inventory.
Fastmarkets assessed the lithium hydroxide monohydrate, 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, battery grade, ex-works, spot price range at 75,000-80,000 yuan per tonne on Thursday, down from 75,000-81,000 yuan per tonne on July 18.
“Our battery-grade lithium hydroxide prices have gone down week on week on slow consumption,” a second lithium producer told Fastmarkets. “To keep cash flow and achieve sales we had to decrease prices this week but [this is typical of] this time of the year, the summer period is always slow.”
Lower seaborne Asian hydroxide prices The seaborne Asian battery-grade lithium hydroxide spot market fell week on week after the more competitive and lower prices offered from China, while the battery-grade lithium carbonate price remained static.
Fastmarkets assessed the lithium hydroxide monohydrate, 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, battery-grade spot price at $13-14 per kg, cif China, Japan and Korea, on Thursday, down from $13-15 per kg on July 18.
Fastmarkets’ assessment of the lithium carbonate, 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery-grade spot price was at $10.50-12 per kg on July 25, on a cif China, Japan and Korea basis, unchanged from the week before.
“There are prices as low as $13 per kg for battery-grade lithium hydroxide and prices have concluded close to $10 per kg for battery-grade lithium carbonate, cif China, Japan and Korea,” a third Chinese producer told Fastmarkets. “The seaborne market is catching up with the lower prices in China, as they typically do.”
“The battery-grade lithium carbonate prices on a cif China, Japan and Korea basis sat unchanged week on week because they are already close to the prices achieved on a spot basis in China,” a fourth lithium producer told Fastmarkets.
Unchanged European and US prices The European and United States’ battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide spot prices sat unchanged week on week on little spot market activity.
Fastmarkets last assessed the lithium carbonate, 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot price at $11-13 per kg, ddp Europe and US, on Thursday July 25, failing to move over the pricing week.
Fastmarkets’ assessment of the lithium hydroxide monohydrate, 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, battery-grade spot price was at $13-15 per kg, on a ddp Europe and US basis, on Thursday, also unchanged from the previous week.
“The market in Europe and the US is very slow and it’s hard to complete any deal at this time of year,” a distributor told Fastmarkets. “This is typical of the summer period as most consumers are away on holiday.”
“We haven’t seen any price changes in the lithium spot market this week and don’t expect changes until the end of the summer,” a fifth lithium producer told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets’ trade log for battery-grade lithium carbonate in China for July includes all trades, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.
Learn more about Fastmarkets’ lithium pricing methodology here and read the latest lithium price spotlight here.
All lithium carbonate, hydroxide and spodumene prices are available in our Battery Raw Materials Market Tracker. Get a sample of the report here.