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Expected lithium price rebound to add further volatility

While prices were still under pressure from weak demand, some market participants expected a rebound in the second half of the year, potentially adding more volatility to lithium prices in 2023.
“With resupply markets looking well discounted to futures, and demand from EV producers likely to soften in the summer, the overall curve does appear to want to bottom out,” Hoffmann said.
Fastmarkets’ researchers have forecast that prices for hydroxide would average $62 per kg in the third and fourth quarters of 2023.
“There are going to be some delays to supply coming online that were expected, and that’s going to support prices and push them up in the second half of the year,” Fastmarkets battery raw materials analyst Jordan Roberts said, adding that prices were not expected to return to the highs seen last year.
Fastmarkets’ battery raw materials research team has forecast that the global lithium market will be in a deficit of 68,900 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in 2023.