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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":714,"relatedVideos":715},112471475554913,"0213dcca-6b27-491a-964d-e571b2b85110","Chinese lithium prices continue to slide in April amid signs of demand improvement","chinese-lithium-prices-continue-to-slide-in-april-amid-signs-of-demand-improvement","article/chinese-lithium-prices-continue-to-slide-in-april-amid-signs-of-demand-improvement",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":556,"content":566,"excerpt":694,"featured":51,"reporter":695,"_editable":699,"component":700,"seo_title":543,"categories":701,"visibility":707,"author_company":49,"featured_image":708,"seo_description":694,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":712,"formattedArticleDate":713},"22c55838-f839-4017-9abb-0d051fb8fc18","2023-04-21 00:00",[550,553],{"slug":551,"name":552},"china","China",{"slug":554,"name":555},"lithium-prices","Lithium prices",[557],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":560},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":561,"image":562,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":563},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":567,"content":568},"doc",[569,576,591,596,601,606,611,616,637,646,651,656,661,674,679,684,689],{"type":570,"attrs":571,"content":572},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[573],{"text":574,"type":575},"Chinese lithium spot prices fell for the twelfth straight week in mid April as brine producers in China flooded the market with additional volume of technical-grade material.","text",{"type":570,"attrs":577,"content":578},{"textAlign":49},[579,581,589],{"text":580,"type":575},"The price for battery-grade lithium carbonate fell by 7% week-on-week to RMB 197,500 a tonne ($28,625) for the period ended April 19, according to ",{"text":582,"type":575,"marks":583},"Benchmark’s Lithium Price Assessment.",[584],{"type":585,"attrs":586},"link",{"href":587,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/price-assessments/lithium/","url",{"text":590,"type":575}," The price decline was even sharper for technical grade material due, falling 14% week-on-week to RMB 161,000 a tonne ($23,350).",{"type":570,"attrs":592,"content":593},{"textAlign":49},[594],{"text":595,"type":575},"Battery grade lithium carbonate prices have declined 65% since hitting an all-time high in late November last year, while the decline for the technical grade is at a greater fall of 70%.",{"type":570,"attrs":597,"content":598},{"textAlign":49},[599],{"text":600,"type":575},"Despite the latest price declines, sentiment towards demand has improved, as indicated by trading in lithium futures contracts. Benchmark’s contacts have also reported an improvement in the demand outlook has spurred some Chinese domestic traders to reserve warehouse space in anticipation that prices have hit a bottom.",{"type":570,"attrs":602,"content":603},{"textAlign":49},[604],{"text":605,"type":575},"“Whilst lithium carbonate prices continue to fall, market sentiment is improving which could act as an early bellwether for the prevailing market price stabilising,” said Tony Alderson, analyst at Benchmark.",{"type":570,"attrs":607,"content":608},{"textAlign":49},[609],{"text":610,"type":575},"Alderson explained that price trends for battery grade carbonate are traditionally ahead of the battery grade hydroxide prices due to its typically larger spot market.",{"type":570,"attrs":612,"content":613},{"textAlign":49},[614],{"text":615,"type":575},"“The sentiment with Chinese traders is that domestic prices are nearing the bottom, and that some producers will begin efforts to refill their inventories in anticipation of an improvement in downstream order books,” said Alderson.",{"type":570,"attrs":617,"content":618},{"textAlign":49},[619,621,627,629,635],{"text":620,"type":575},"Just ",{"text":622,"type":575,"marks":623},"until a month ago",[624],{"type":585,"attrs":625},{"href":626,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/chinese-lithium-prices-almost-halve-from-november-peak-as-demand-weakens",{"text":628,"type":575},", falling prices had sent cathode makers to draw from their ",{"text":630,"type":575,"marks":631},"depleting inventories",[632],{"type":585,"attrs":633},{"href":634,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/lithium-prices-slip-again-in-february-as-weak-ev-demand-slows-two-year-rally",{"text":636,"type":575}," and employ a watch and wait strategy to see if spot market prices moved down further.",{"type":570,"attrs":638,"content":639},{"textAlign":49},[640],{"type":641,"attrs":642},"image",{"id":49,"alt":643,"src":644,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":645},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/393f3289af/bm-chinese-lithium-chart.png",{},{"type":570,"attrs":647,"content":648},{"textAlign":49},[649],{"text":650,"type":575},"In the seaborne Asian market, the spot price decline was sharper at 17% in the week ended April 19  in a lagged response to the declining price trend in China. Chinese brine producers looked to sell their carbonate material into the wider Asian market, squeezing its premium to Chinese spot pricing further",{"type":570,"attrs":652,"content":653},{"textAlign":49},[654],{"text":655,"type":575},"On the lithium hydroxide front, the weekly decline was the biggest seen since May last year, dropping by 12.3% week-on-week, however the grade still retained a premium over battery grade carbonate in China during the period under stable overseas demand for hydroxide and ongoing high feedstock prices.",{"type":570,"attrs":657,"content":658},{"textAlign":49},[659],{"text":660,"type":575},"Improving EV Demand",{"type":570,"attrs":662,"content":663},{"textAlign":49},[664,666,672],{"text":665,"type":575},"Sales of ",{"text":667,"type":575,"marks":668},"electric vehicles in China increased",[669],{"type":585,"attrs":670},{"href":671,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/chinas-nev-sales-rise-by-24-in-march-as-price-wars-stoke-demand",{"text":673,"type":575}," 27% in the first quarter of the year to 1.59 million units on a year-on-year basis, amid an escalating price war between Tesla, BYD and other smaller rivals.",{"type":570,"attrs":675,"content":676},{"textAlign":49},[677],{"text":678,"type":575},"Declining battery costs due to falling prices of critical battery materials helped electric vehicles makers offer steep price cuts and discounts. ",{"type":570,"attrs":680,"content":681},{"textAlign":49},[682],{"text":683,"type":575},"Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday told investors in a post earnings call that the electric vehicle maker is pushing for higher volumes and a larger fleet instead of a lower volume and higher margin.",{"type":570,"attrs":685,"content":686},{"textAlign":49},[687],{"text":688,"type":575},"Tesla reported a gross profit margin of 19.3% in the first quarter due to the price cuts, its lowest since the end of 2020 when the pandemic hit its operations. ",{"type":570,"attrs":690,"content":691},{"textAlign":49},[692],{"text":693,"type":575},"Tesla supplier and the world’s largest battery maker CATL on Thursday reported a six fold jump in first quarter profit and nearly doubled sales amid falling raw materials costs. ","Chinese lithium spot prices fell for the twelfth straight week in mid April as brine producers in China flooded the market with additional volume of technical-grade material. The price for battery-grade lithium carbonate fell by 7% week-on-week to RMB 197,500 a tonne ($28,625) for the period ended April 19, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Price Assessment. […]",[696],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":697},{"job_title":561,"image":698,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},{"filename":563},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"22c55838-f839-4017-9abb-0d051fb8fc18\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[702,705],{"slug":703,"name":704},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":706,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":643,"name":643,"focus":643,"title":643,"source":643,"filename":709,"copyright":643,"fieldtype":710,"meta_data":711,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/781b97ddbd/bm-lithium-australia-scaled-1.jpg","asset",{"alt":643,"title":643,"source":643,"copyright":643},"Apr 21, 2023","21st April 2023",[],[],1782119856346]