According to the data monitoring of Business News Agency, the price of industrial and battery grade lithium carbonate fell again and again this week. The average domestic mixed price of industrial grade lithium carbonate on February 16 was 426600 yuan/ton, down 3.4% from the average price of 441600 yuan/ton on February 12. The average domestic mixed price of battery grade lithium carbonate was 452600 yuan/ton on February 16, down 3.21% from the average price of 467600 yuan/ton on February 12.

From the observation of market changes, lithium carbonate prices continued to maintain a downward trend this week. In terms of supply, lithium carbonate production enterprises maintained steady production, and the mica smelting enterprises affected by environmental protection events in the early stage resumed production, and the new capacity climbed significantly. At present, with the warming of temperature, the output of salt lakes has increased, and the total output has increased slightly, leading to an increase in the overall supply.

In terms of demand, the overall recovery of downstream and terminal markets is slower than expected, and the load rate of some production lines remains low. In addition, the current falling price of lithium carbonate has left the industry in a wait-and-see state, and there has not been a large number of purchases. The market is mostly just in need of purchase.

The downstream lithium hydroxide market has declined, the upstream spodumene market has been in weak operation recently, the lithium carbonate price has also been falling, the market mentality is insufficient, the downstream merchants are not willing to receive goods, the actual market transactions are limited, most of them are low-price orders, the focus of lithium hydroxide negotiations has declined, and the wait-and-see atmosphere is strong.

The price of lithium iron phosphate in the downstream market has declined, and the cost of lithium iron phosphate has declined due to the falling price of lithium carbonate. In addition, the precursor iron phosphate enterprises generally have a large inventory, and the price fluctuates violently and continues to decline. The recovery of market demand was also less than expected, and the short-term procurement demand was low.

The lithium carbonate analyst of the Business Agency believes that the current lithium carbonate production is gradually rising, the downstream demand is weak, and the power end market still has no obvious signs of recovery. Considering the actual inventory digestion, it is expected that the short-term lithium carbonate price downturn will continue to fluctuate downward.