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Elsewhere, European lithium technical and battery grade spot prices declined amid persistently weak demand and illiquidity, exacerbated by Easter holidays in the region, sources added.
Meanwhile, on April 4, Fastmarkets published its first assessment of North American specific lithium technical grade and battery grade prices on a delivery duty paid basis for the US and Canada.
The US and Canadian spot lithium assessments were assessed at parity to the European equivalent and at a premium to the CIF seaborne Asia spot lithium price equivalent.
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Fastmarkets’ domestic China spot lithium price assessments were not published on April 4 due to the Qingming Festival holiday in China, which is also called Tomb Sweeping Day, from April 4-6. The table below therefore shows the latest assessed prices, published on March 28.
Fastmarkets assessed lithium carbonate 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot prices cif China, Japan & Korea at $12.50-14 per kg on April 4, unchanged since March 15, after falling by 0.97% from $13-13.75 per kg.
Fastmarkets assessed the lithium hydroxide monohydrate LiOH.H2O 56.5% LiOH min, battery grade, spot price cif China, Japan & Korea at $12.30-14 per kg on April 4, unchanged since the beginning of April but by down 0.75% from the last session of March, when it was assessed at $12.30-14.20 per kg ahead of the Easter break.
Ahead of the public holiday in China, most Chinese producer sources reported earlier this week that they had received very few inquiries and limited buying interest from the seaborne Asia market.
Sources in Japan and South Korea reported limited spot buying interest for the time being and that buyers’ needs were being met by existing long-term agreements.
Sources in the region were also continuing to monitor the lithium future prices on the China’s Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX) for any potential change in direction that could affect the physical spot market.
“At the moment, the market is lacking a bit of direction,” an intermediary source active in Asia said.
“Demand is not doing great at the moment and there is still a lot of material available, I was recently discussing with a South American producer who was offering a substantial amount of material,” a second intermediary source active in Asia said.
Further upstream, the price of spodumene min 6% Li2O, spot price, cif China was assessed by Fastmarkets at $1,100-1,200 per tonne on April 3, up by 4.55% from $1,000-1,200 per tonne on March 27.
Spodumene prices continued to steadily rise amid higher offers with public reports of concluded liquidity continuing to boost sentiment for spodumene.
The recent result of a tender for Australian-sourced spodumene raised the expectations on spodumene prices for Australian miners, sources reported. But sources were continuing to monitor Chinese lithium downstream chemical prices and any potential change in direction.