From Bloomberg, June 23:
- China carbonate spot prices drop to lowest since August 2021
- Global inventories building as EV demand signals stay gloomy
Lithium industry watchers hoping the battery metal was poised to rebound from an epic slump have been hit by the realization prices have fallen again this month, with inventories piling up as electric vehicle demand signals stay gloomy.
Spot prices of lithium carbonate in China have slid to the lowest since August 2021 and the most-active futures on the Guangzhou exchange have lost 12% so far this month. In top producer Albemarle Corp.’s latest auction on June 19, the winning bid was down 6.9% from the previous sale on June 5.
The declines follow a plunge of more than 80% in 2023 due to a glut and slowing demand growth. Although prices stabilized earlier this year, the supply-chain is still working to clear inventories, with customers holding off purchases. The bearish sentiment has also been wreaking havoc on the stock prices of producers, including Albemarle and Piedmont Lithium Inc....
....MUCH MORE
We've been trying to give the heads-up on the oversupply all the way down. If interested see the 'search blog' box upper left.
