• Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices in East
Asia’s seaborne market catching up with prices in
China; lithium hydroxide prices stable.
• China’s lithium prices steady ahead of next
round of month-end restocking.
• Europe, United States spot markets strengthen on tight
availability, increasingly high offers.
Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices edged up in East Asia
in the past week amid tight availability of spot units,
tracking the previous rally in China.
Fastmarkets’ assessment of the lithium
carbonate 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot price, cif
China, Japan & Korea was $27.50-29.00 per kg on Thursday
November 11, up by $1.50 per kg from $26.00-27.50 per kg a week
earlier.
Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment of the lithium
hydroxide monohydrate 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, battery grade, spot
price, cif China, Japan & Korea was $28-30 per kg on
Thursday, unchanged from a week earlier.
Seller sources in China raised their price indications for
battery-grade lithium carbonate in the East Asian region during
the week, taking them closer to those in the Chinese
market.
"Chinese prices still hold a large premium over regional
prices, and it's more profitable to sell units to the Chinese
market. Plus, freight rates are also very high, so prices
across the two markets should be at the same level," a producer
source in China said.
The recent rally in China’s lithium market
added pressure to the seaborne market and raised concern among
some East Asian market participants.
"The prices in China are now influencing all over East Asia.
One concern we have is over when this rally [in Chinese lithium
prices] will stop and how much [lithium prices in China] will
be," a Japanese trader said. "We sincerely hope the prices
would become stable at certain points, even for a little
while."
Meanwhile, participants across the seaborne East Asian
market noted that the supply of lithium units was tight, while
added further strength to the rally in prices for battery-grade
lithium carbonate.
"There are no spot battery-grade lithium carbonate units on
the market. I think prices in China and the seaborne market
should be at parity," a Chinese trader said.
Prices for technical-grade lithium carbonate in East
Asia’s seaborne market mirrored the rally in the
battery-grade segment amid tight supply.
"Prices for technical-grade lithium carbonate will continue
to creep up toward $28-29 per kg over the coming weeks. There
is nothing left for the spot market. Every producer is sold
out," a source at a producer active in both the European and
Asian markets said.
Fastmarkets’ assessment of the lithium
carbonate 99% Li2CO3 min, technical and industrial grades, spot
price cif China, Japan & Korea was at $26-28 per kg on
Thursday, up by $1 per kg from $25-27 per kg a week
earlier.
Prices for battery-grade lithium hydroxide have stabilized,
according to most market participants. Current prices are
already close to those in the Chinese market.
Stable Chinese market
Prices for both battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium
hydroxide in China were unchanged in the past week with
consumers making purchases on an as-needed basis before the
next round of month-end restocking, when they typically raise
buying rates.
Furthermore, lithium prices in China are already high, which
limits their upside potential.
Fastmarkets’ assessment of the lithium
carbonate 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot price range,
ex-works domestic China was at 195,000-200,000 yuan
($30,477-31,259) per tonne on Thursday, unchanged for a second
week.
Fastmarkets’ assessment of the lithium
hydroxide monohydrate, 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, battery grade, spot
price range, exw domestic China was 185,000-205,000 yuan per
tonne on Thursday, also unchanged for a second week.
"Overall prices and demand were stable this week. Current
prices are already high and have limited space to rise further.
If they rise further, downstream consumers may start to show
resistance, " a second Chinese producer source said.
While the salt lakes in China’s Qinghai
province experiences a seasonal drop in production during
winter, its impact on the supply of feedstock for brine-fed
technical-grade lithium carbonate production and lithium prices
in China is rather limited.
"There is limited impact from production reduction at salt
lakes in Qinghai, which is around 30%. The producers there have
stock of brine, and traders have stocked up as well. They are
releasing older units to the market, which offsets the impact
from lower production," a second Chinese trader said.
In addition, multiple market participants noted that spot
supply of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in China seemed
sufficient, while that of lithium carbonate of the same grade
was tighter.
Market participants are not expecting aggressive restocking
toward the end of the year. Two consumer sources said they
would keep purchasing at a stable pace until the end of
2021.
A third trader said with many major lithium producers having
already secured their supply through long-term agreements, they
might only turn to the spot market to purchase small volumes,
if necessary.
Europe, US catching up with China
Prices for battery- and technical-grade lithium in Europe and
the US strengthened over the past week, tracking the previous
rally in China, with tight spot supply providing additional
support to the markets.
Sources continued to report very tight availability of
technical-grade compounds and buyers struggled to secure spot
units.
Fastmarkets assessed the lithium carbonate 99% Li2CO3 min,
technical and industrial grades, spot price ddp Europe and US
at $25.25-27.00 per kg on Thursday, up by $0.75-1.00 per kg
from $24.50-26.00 per kg a week earlier.
The lithium carbonate 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot
price ddp Europe and US similarly posted a hefty gain this
week, with
Fastmarkets’ assessing it at $26.50-29.00 per
kg on Thursday, up by $1.00-1.50 per kg from $25.50-27.50 per
kg a week earlier.
This is the highest that the price has been since
Fastmarkets started assessing it in 2017.
An upstream source active in Europe and Asia who usually
procures technical-grade lithium carbonate in South America
said that he was getting more interested in the regular tenders
that a Bolivian lithium producer holds for its limited
technical-grade lithium carbonate compounds due to the
tightness of the market.
Short supply and elevated prices for technical-grade
carbonate are filtering though the hydroxide market since
lithium hydroxide producers in Europe typically use lithium
carbonate as their feedstock.
Fastmarkets assessed the lithium hydroxide monohydrate min
56.5% LiOH.H2O technical and industrial grades, spot prices ddp
Europe and US at $27.00-29.00 per kg on Thursday, widening
upward by $0.50 per kg from $27.00-28.50 per kg a week
earlier.
