Price trend
According to the data monitoring of SunSirs, recently, the price of lithium carbonate is still rising continuously. On February 3, the average price of industrial-grade lithium carbonate in East China was 71,200 RMB/ton, a 4.4% increase from the beginning of the week (the average price of industrial-grade lithium carbonate in East China was 68,200 RMB/ton on January 31). On February 3, the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate in East China was 76,000 RMB/ton, a 4.97% increase compared with the beginning of the week (the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate in East China was 72,400 RMB/ton on January 31). On the 3rd, the comprehensive quotation of the industrial grade lithium carbonate market was around 65,000~75,000 RMB/ton, and the comprehensive quotation of the battery-grade lithium carbonate market was around 70,000~80,000 RMB/ton.
Analysis review
From the observation of market changes, the price of lithium carbonate is still on the rise before the Spring Festival holiday. At present, major lithium salt factories in Jiangxi and Sichuan have ceased production, and most lithium salt factories have stopped quoting. But the price is still in the state follow the market, so sales prices continue to rise. The current lithium carbonate market is full of bullish sentiment. In addition, lithium carbonate enterprises have more maintenance and repairs in February, which may affect the production and supply in February. Therefore, the phenomenon of market inquiry and pre-holiday volume ordered has increased. There are more outages in logistics, which also increase transportation costs, driving up the overall price.
The downstream industrial-grade lithium hydroxide market is running steadily. At present, the downstream stocks before the holiday, the inquiries increase, and the demand has increased. The industry has no intention to sell at a low price, and the market negotiates the price to move up. As for the lithium iron phosphate power market, due to the rapid increase in the price of lithium carbonate, the frequency of price adjustments by iron-lithium companies has also increased. Merchants have firm quotations, and the mentality of rising prices still exists. Businesses start normally and merchants are actively selling goods.
According to the price monitoring of SunSirs, the lithium carbonate commodity index on February 2 was 178.34, an increase of 3.56 points from former day, and a decrease of 55.98% from the highest point in the cycle of 405.10 points (2018-01-07), and an increase of 80.98% 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 as the Spring Festival holiday approaches, the price fluctuations of lithium carbonate may gradually slow down. Some companies with higher quotations will maintain this price until the end of February. It is expected that the price of lithium carbonate will remain at a high level before the Spring Festival, while the price of lithium carbonate may still rise after the holiday.
