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A rally in Chinese domestic lithium price pushed seaborne prices up on the week May 23, with sources saying that this has led international consumers to adopt a more cautious stance.

Seaborne lithium carbonate prices jumped $3,000/mt on the day to $35,000/mt on a CIF North Asia basis, whereas lithium hydroxide prices remained steady at $42,000/mt May 23.
The prices reflect the spot value of battery-grade material on a CIF North Asia basis, referring to deliveries to the main ports of China, Japan and South Korea. Lithium carbonate, however, is normalized to deliveries at the Shanghai port.
Compared with the fluctuations in the domestic price, the international lithium market was more stable, a producer source said.
Platts-assessed battery-grade lithium carbonate at $35,000/mt CIF North Asia May 23 was equivalent to Yuan 278,389/mt on a DDP China basis, including 13% value-added tax, port and logistic costs, based on S&P Global’s import-parity calculation.
The DDP China lithium carbonate price was assessed at Yuan 295,000/mt May 23, meaning domestic prices were trading at a premium over seaborne prices.
Due to the relatively higher Chinese prices, offers for export materials into the seaborne market were also lifted.
A South Korean consumer said that battery-grade materials were offered at around $36,000-$41,000/mt to the South Korean market, reflecting “much higher” levels than the domestic Chinese price.
Another Chinese lithium converter pegged tradable levels for battery-grade lithium carbonate higher at $40,000/mt and hydroxide at $48,000/mt
However, demand for import spot materials was tepid in the week to May 23, as many South Korean and Japanese consumers are running on long-term contracts.
“South Korean [consumers] are not buying spot at the moment … most of the existing customers have short-term and long-term contracts,” said a South Korean consumer.