Spot prices in Beijing set to go up to 420,000 rmb this weekAnd that is 85,000$ cdn (66,000 USD)
BEIJING (Asian metal) 15 Feb 22 - Supported by high prices of spodumene and strong demand, Chinese industrial grade lithium carbonate suppliers hold bullish attitudes and kept lifting their prices, while consumers held wait-and-see attitudes. The present mainstream prices of Chinese lithium carbonate 99%min, Na 0.15%max, K 0.2%max rose to RMB390,000-395,000/t (USD61,272-62,058/t) delivered D/P, up by about RMB5,000/t (USD786/t) from late last week. Considering the strong demand as well as high prices of raw material, insiders expect that prices of Chinese industrial grade lithium carbonate would continue going up this week.
A trader in South China claimed that, "We don't quote today as we intend to watch the market at the beginning of this week. However, based on the current status, we think it's reasonable to quote RMB410,000/t (USD64,414/t) delivered D/P without any concession for lithium carbonate 99.2%min, Na 0.07%max, B 500ppb max today, up by around RMB10,000/t (USD1 ,571/t) from late last week", stating that one client would like to purchase about 1 00t last week, but the clients didn't reply after getting their quotation of RMB400,000/t (USD62,843/t). They didn't close any deal after Spring Festival while they last sold RMB30t at RMB340,000/t (USD53,417/t) delivered D/P at the end of January. Predicting that prices of Chinese industrial grade lithium carbonate would move up, they plan to lift their prices further.
With a regular monthly trading volume of about 200t, they predict to sell about 150t this month, the same as last month. They hold no inventory at the moment.
Another trader in South China noted that they quoted RMB420,000/t (USD65,986/t) delivered D/P for lithium carbonate 99.2%min today and could consider prices as low as RMB410,000/t (USD64,414/t), while they offered RMB415,000/t (USD65,200/t) and refused prices lower than RMB410,000/t (USD64,414/t) late last week. They didn't close any deal for the recent two weeks after last selling 30t at RMB338,000/t (USD53, 103/t) delivered D/P with the quotation of RMB340,000/t (USD53,417/t) at the end of January. The trader complained that some producers didn't deliver goods after signing contract and receiving payment as prices of lithium carbonate increased quickly. Holding bullish attitudes towards market, they prefer to hold their prices firm.
With a regular monthly trading volume of around 60t, they forecast to sell about 30t this month, while they sold about 60t last month. They hold stocks of around 1 Qt in hand at present.