Good News & Bad News, page-13577

• Power cuts in China have raised lithium prices because Chinese producers and converters reported that they had stopped their production lines and may have to stop offering units.
  
  Platts assessed lithium carbonate at $72,600/mt Aug. 17, up $200/mt from $72,400/mt Aug. 10. Lithium hydroxide was assessed at $75,500/mt Aug. 17, up $400/mt on the week.
  The prices reflect the spot value of battery-grade material on a CIF North Asia basis, which refers to deliveries to the main ports of China, Japan and South Korea. Lithium carbonate, however, is normalized to deliveries at the Shanghai port.
  “Our three factories have all stopped for one week,” a converter said.
  “That will not change our export volumes at the moment, we have at least 10-12 days of inventory. But if the power cut continues for another week, then we'll have to cut exports,” the converter added.
  A producer said, “The power cuts have affected domestic prices, so export prices naturally have to follow.”
  Power was being restricted during peak times in certain areas and therefore production had been cut, with the market already tight to begin with, a second producer said.
  One battery maker said they were not seeing a “significant difference” in the offers made in the market and believed that the power cuts would only be temporary. Therefore there was resistance to the price rises.
  The DDP China lithium carbonate price was assessed at Yuan 481,000/mt Aug. 17, meaning seaborne prices were well above Chinese domestic prices. The dollar was assessed at Yuan 6.78 at 1:45 pm GMT.