According to the price monitoring of business society, in September 2021, the market price of industrial grade and battery grade lithium carbonate in East China continued to soar in August, and the price remained in the rising range until the end of the month, but slowed down slightly. As of September 28, the average price of industrial grade lithium carbonate in East China was 167800 yuan / ton, an increase of 40.77% compared with the average price at the beginning of the month (the average price of industrial carbon in East China was 119200 yuan / ton on September 1). On September 28, the average price of battery grade lithium carbonate in East China was 175200 yuan / ton, an increase of 39.49% compared with the average price at the beginning of the month (the average price of carbon in East China was 125600 yuan / ton on September 1). Until the 28th, the comprehensive price of industrial grade lithium carbonate was 153000-187000 yuan / ton, and the comprehensive price of battery grade lithium carbonate was 163000-205000 yuan / ton.

According to the observation of market changes, the price of lithium carbonate continued the upward trend at the end of August from September, and the rising range continued to increase rapidly. Around the middle of September, the domestic mainstream manufacturers basically completed the spot sales in September, and the market supply is very tight. With the rising price, there is a gap at the raw material end. The large-scale production of overseas mines and salt lakes will start at the end of this year or early next year, and the shortage of raw materials may last for several months. In terms of supply and demand, the state of short supply continues. In the early stage, the inventory of some manufacturers and traders is slowly released. Therefore, the rising sentiment is high and the price is rising.

Until the end of September, the rise of lithium carbonate price slowed down. First, the price slowed down because the price remained high and the acceptance of small and medium-sized material factories was low. Most of them focused on inquiry, but the purchase volume was slightly inferior. Second, affected by the “dual control of energy consumption” policy and import increment, the market reluctance to sell was slightly weakened, and traders and some smelters began to gradually increase their sales to the market.

In terms of upstream raw materials, it is difficult to obtain one ticket for overseas lithium concentrate. On September 14, the auction price of the second batch of 8000 tons of lithium concentrate of Pilbara, an Australian lithium mining enterprise, reached 2240 yuan / ton, continuing to hit a record high, which makes the subsequent lithium salt plants sell their products under the condition of reasonable profits, and the price of lithium carbonate will continue to rise. In the fourth quarter of China, with the impact of climate cooling, the output of Salt Lake will also decrease, which makes the demand for raw materials more tense.

The downstream lithium hydroxide market continued to rise as a whole in September. The strong operation of the upstream spodumene price and the rise of lithium carbonate price both led to the rise of lithium hydroxide price. Near the end of the month, affected by the policy of “dual control of energy consumption”, the operating rate in some regions decreased. However, when the downstream material factory entered the procurement replenishment season at the end of the month, the procurement volume increased and the transaction price increased.

In terms of lithium iron phosphate, the lithium iron phosphate market was also in the rising range in September. Due to the continuous rise of upstream raw materials and rapid price transmission, the market price of lithium iron phosphate continued to rise. In terms of demand, near the fourth quarter, the downstream power market demand has increased to a certain extent, raising the demand for iron and lithium.

According to the lithium carbonate analysts of business society, at present, although the market shipments have increased and the superimposed demand side has been slightly reduced under the influence of the “dual control of energy consumption” policy, the limitation of lithium resources in China in the fourth quarter can not be alleviated. There is still a demand gap in the lithium carbonate market before the end of the year, and there is still room for rise. It is expected that the short-term lithium carbonate price is still in an upward trend, but it will slow down slightly.