Lithium carbonate prices in China fell past CNY 480,000 per tonne in January, the lowest since August, and nearly 20% down from an all-time high of CNY 600,000 touched in November on stronger supply and signs of low demand. Added capacity drove Chinese domestic production to soar by 89% year-on-year in December, despite output cuts in lake-based smelters. On top of that, top producer Australia expects global output of lithium carbonate equivalent to reach 915,000 tonnes in 2023, a 32% rise from 2022’s estimate. Meanwhile, electric vehicle sales in China are set to decline sharply after the world’s top consumer stopped subsidies in the sector. Chinese commodity exchanges will be closed in the final week of January due to New Year's celebrations.
Historically, Lithium reached an all time high of 5750000 in December of 2022. Lithium - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on February of 2023.
Lithium is expected to trade at 482036.25 CNY/T by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 495883.75 in 12 months time.