According to the price monitoring of business society, the price of industrial grade and battery grade lithium carbonate in East China market rose sharply in December, and the price hit a record high at the end of the month. As of December 30, the average price of industrial grade lithium carbonate in East China was 265000 yuan / ton, Compared with the average price at the beginning of the month (the average price of industrial carbon in East China on December 1 was 194000 yuan / ton), the price increased by 36.6%. While the average price of battery grade lithium carbonate in East China on December 30 was 281000 yuan / ton, which was lower than that at the beginning of the month (on December 1, the average price of carbon in East China was 205000 yuan / ton) the average price increased by 37.07% compared with the price. Until the 30th, the comprehensive price of industrial grade lithium carbonate was 247000-278000 yuan / ton, and the comprehensive price of battery grade lithium carbonate was 257000-29000 yuan / ton.

By observing the market changes, the price of lithium carbonate continued to rise in early December, and the tight supply pattern continued. With the end of the year approaching, the market trading volume of lithium carbonate began to increase and the market quotation continued to improve. In addition, large lithium salt plants in the market have been overhauled one after another, resulting in a significant decline in supply. As the Spring Festival this year is earlier than last year, the downstream market demand is still obvious, and the purchase of lithium carbonate is increasing. As overseas countries gradually enter the New Year holiday, the port shipping schedule is delayed, which has a certain impact and gap on the market supply

In late December, the price of lithium carbonate rose again and again, and the rising range was increasing. At the end of the year, the stock mood became more and more serious, resulting in a continuous increase in market procurement. The output of lithium iron phosphate and ternary materials in the downstream also increased significantly, so the demand for lithium carbonate continued to rise. With the obvious reduction in the domestic market, the supply of goods is also relatively tight, and the market is hard to find. Therefore, manufacturers and traders have raised the price of lithium carbonate one after another. At the end of the month, the lithium carbonate market was in a situation of high demand for the return of upstream funds and heavy mood for goods preparation in the downstream, and the price rise rate continued to increase.

The price of downstream lithium hydroxide rose steadily in December, the price of raw material spodumene operated strongly, the cost support was obvious, the market inquiry and procurement atmosphere improved, and the driving atmosphere was strong. In addition, the demand for lithium carbonate produced by carbonization method rose sharply under the soaring demand for lithium carbonate, and the price of industrial grade lithium hydroxide increased significantly.

In December, the market price of lithium iron phosphate showed an upward trend. At the raw material end, the price of lithium carbonate has risen rapidly recently, and the manufacturing cost of lithium iron phosphate enterprises has increased significantly with lithium salt. The new capacity of domestic lithium iron phosphate industry continues to climb, but the current lithium carbonate supply is still tight and it is difficult to purchase, which limits the release of manufacturers’ capacity to a certain extent, the demand of terminal power market remains unchanged, and orders remain high.

According to the lithium carbonate analysts of business society, with the approaching of the Spring Festival holiday, the logistics will enter the shutdown state around the middle of January. Therefore, the centralized procurement of lithium carbonate may occur in the first ten days of January, and the logistics and transportation costs may also rise. It is expected that the price of lithium carbonate will continue to rise in the short term.