Bearish sentiment prevails in spot lithium market
Ongoing sluggish demand and oversupply in the lithium market has led to bearish sentiment toward the near-term outlook among delegates at the conference.
“Chile’s lithium carbonate and Australia’s spodumene are still being shipped to China in large volumes, and new lithium projects are coming online. We are having a big oversupply issue,” a trader said.
“I believe there’s still downside room for lithium prices,” the trader added.
Multiple delegates at the conference told Fastmarkets that they didn’t see any support for demand to pick up in the near term.
Some other delegates expected some restocking in the third quarter, or before China’s National Day holiday (October 1-7), which could result in a rebound in lithium prices.
“Even if there’s rebound due to restocking demand, it will be short-lived, as in general the demand is still weak,” a Chinese lithium producer source said.
