Interesting extract from a research paper provided by Mac...

Interesting extract from a research paper provided by Mac Wealth's commodity team. I have highlighted the key takeaway which is that investors should not read too much into the underlying demand of metals around this time of year from China because of the prestocking/ destocking cycle that occurs this time of year.
It's fair to say that most analysts have been critical of Li demand (i.e. weakness in demand) but there is a school of thought that suggests demand will ramp up now that the holiday period is over.
The implications for GXY are simple: we need 3 shipments by 22k tons (each) to achieve guidance for 2hCY19. That seems pretty feasible.
As others have suggested, we are about to turn the corner.

"China's holiday inventory shifts: implications
 The 1st October National Day holiday of China, like Chinese New Year, typically disrupts the local metal industry's activities – it's such a major industry activity break. Buyers usually restock raw materials ahead of the holiday, leading to a clear destock in metal warehouse inventories, followed by a build event during holiday week, then destocking post-holiday.
 During this period, the usual measurement of China's WoW inventory change tell little of the underlying demand."
Source: Sales Desk Macro Strategy, Macquarie Wealth Management, 11 October 2019.