[SMM Analysis] Lithium Carbonate Futures and Spot Divergence: Futures Rose to 200,000, Spot Lithium Carbonate Transactions Remained Sluggish
Lithium carbonate production slightly declined this week, mainly due to maintenance on production lines at some spodumene-based enterprises, while production from other raw material sources remained stable with a slight increase. In terms of market transactions and inventory changes: upstream lithium chemical plants saw a slight slowdown in spot order shipments, downstream players and traders showed weakened purchase willingness, and combined with the successive commencement of long-term contract deliveries, inventory exhibited a slight destocking trend this week. On the downstream material plants side, as prices rose significantly, spot order purchase willingness remained persistently weak, with consumption still primarily relying on earlier inventory and long-term contract and customer-supplied materials delivered at the beginning of the month. On the trader side, due to sluggish downstream purchases, inventory continued to accumulate.
