Today, the spot price of lithium carbonate continues to rise.

Today, SMM battery-grade lithium carbonate spot prices continued to rise versus the previous trading day. On the futures front, the main contract remained locked in high-level range trading. At the open, it briefly moved up to 173,000 yuan per ton; during the intraday peak, open interest exceeded 250,000 lots. It then eased slightly and traded narrowly around 171,000 yuan per ton, eventually closing at 171,600 yuan per ton. By the close, open interest fell by about 10,000 lots from the prior trading day, dropping to 238,000 lots.

In the spot market, as prices rose, tightness among upstream lithium salt producers showed some signs of easing, and willingness to ship spot orders gradually improved. When prices climbed to 173,000 yuan per ton, some lithium salt producers raised their indicative offer prices in tandem to 175,000 yuan per ton and even 180,000 yuan per ton. By comparison, downstream material manufacturers’ procurement interest clearly declined. Owing to the gradual arrival of beginning-of-month long-term agreements and customer-supplied volumes, together with downstream producers replenishing inventory on dips in the early part of last week, downstream material plants’ inventories at the start of the month remained relatively sufficient. As a result, their replenishment procurement demand was relatively weak. Overall, upstream sellers’ sentiment ran high, while downstream purchasing interest stayed persistently weak.

On the supply side, related news from the Zimbabwe and Australian mining end continued to gain traction. The market’s expectations of tighter supply helped push prices higher. Looking ahead, a steady stream of new vehicle models in April is expected to support marginal improvements in demand. However, how quickly shipments from Zimbabwean mines resume, and whether Australian mines will reduce output due to diesel shortages, still need ongoing monitoring. It is expected that in the short term, lithium carbonate prices will maintain a relatively strong pattern. (Shanghai Metals Market)