Down swinging price trend of Lithium Carbonate in China

In the past few years, Consumer’s interest has shifted towards electronic vehicles from fossil fuel vehicles and the battery grade Lithium Carbonate is used to make EV vehicle batteries. The demand from EV batteries manufacturers is slow in the domestic Chinese market, and the price trend of Lithium Carbonate is observed to be waning. Chemanalyst’s data indicate that the price of battery-grade Lithium Carbonate declined 7% in May and with a downward shift of 5300 USD per tonne from the last month. However, in the South American countries like Chile and Argentina, the leading exporters of Lithium Carbonate, the values are increasing continuously due to consistent demand for materials in other importing countries. As per experts, Lithium carbonate’s raw material spodumene prices have increased noticeably in South America due to competitiveness among the material importing nations.

China's zero covid policy is influencing the purchasing power of Chinese citizens, and it is deteriorating as the earning sources have reduced due to continuous lockdown activities. The above reason is affecting the luxury sector significantly, and the sale of the most widely purchased luxury items i.e., cars, is declining in the domestic market. Due to lockdowns clogging of containers is observed at Chinese Ports, causing port congestion and affecting the overall trade activities to and from China. So, the demand for materials reduced from manufacturers of Lithium hydroxide, which is used to make batteries for EV vehicles.

According to Chemanalyst experts, “The price trend of Lithium Carbonate is likely to show fluctuations towards the negative direction in upcoming months, as the demand of materials from the downstream manufacturers is likely to remain stagnant in the domestic Chinese market. The demand-supply gap of materials is anticipated to recover after summer, as the activities at the port in China are likely to run smoothly in 2-3 months”.