Feb. 17 at 4:05 PM
$LITOF The European lithium market showed modest increases in the week to Feb. 13, with further price movements expected after the Lunar New Year holidays in China.
Market players saw the battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide prices at around
$18,000/mt CIF Europe.
A buyer, who put the workable range for lithium hydroxide and carbonate at
$17,000-
$18,000/mt, expected the prices to remain stable for the next two weeks, followed by a possible upside if the demand in China continues to be stimulated by the removal of the VAT rebate on batteries, which had triggered lithium restocking recently.
Another market source said that in the short term, prices may still climb, but the VAT rebate effect would eventually fade, leading to a build-up of midstream inventory starting in April. This would put pressure on prices, he predicted. He expected a deeper price drop in the second half of the year due to overproduction of precursor and cathode active material and high lithium inventories.
