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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":669,"relatedVideos":670},112471774935821,"d537de08-1762-48a7-9d75-74aa71856d60","Lithium prices slip again in February as weak EV demand slows two-year rally","lithium-prices-slip-again-in-february-as-weak-ev-demand-slows-two-year-rally","article/lithium-prices-slip-again-in-february-as-weak-ev-demand-slows-two-year-rally",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":553,"content":563,"excerpt":648,"featured":51,"reporter":649,"_editable":653,"component":654,"seo_title":543,"categories":655,"visibility":661,"author_company":49,"featured_image":662,"seo_description":648,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":667,"formattedArticleDate":668},"1f3b06aa-aac3-492a-a611-1791392d857f","2023-02-24 00:00",[550],{"slug":551,"name":552},"lithium-prices","Lithium prices",[554],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":557},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":558,"image":559,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":560},"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":564,"content":565},"doc",[566,573,578,583,588,593,598,603,608,613,628,633,638,643],{"type":567,"attrs":568,"content":569},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[570],{"text":571,"type":572},"Chinese lithium spot prices continued to fall for the eleventh straight week in mid February amid continued weakness in downstream battery demand for lithium, as large cathode makers destock raw material inventories, slowing down the two-year rally for the critical battery material.","text",{"type":567,"attrs":574,"content":575},{"textAlign":49},[576],{"text":577,"type":572},"The price for battery-grade lithium carbonate fell by 7.6% between the 8th and 22nd of February, while lithium hydroxide dropped by 4.6%, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Price Assessment. ",{"type":567,"attrs":579,"content":580},{"textAlign":49},[581],{"text":582,"type":572},"The declines come at a time when Chinese EV sales typically fall due to the Lunar New Year festival. This seasonal fall in sales was compounded by Beijing ending electric vehicle subsidies at the beginning of the year spurring purchases in December, dampening demand.",{"type":567,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":572},"“It is important to note that the first quarter is always weak for lithium prices. This is not unexpected but perhaps the movements were a little bit stronger downwards than some people had anticipated,” said Daisy Jennings-Gray, an analyst at Benchmark.",{"type":567,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591],{"text":592,"type":572},"“There’s not much activity going on in the spot market. Half of the manufacturers have fair inventory levels and they’re essentially working through that. We hear that there are a lot of cell and cathode facilities that are operating at low utilisation rates at the moment and as a result not buying any more material,” added Jennings-Gray.",{"type":567,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":572},"The declines also come as China’s largest battery maker CATL is reportedly offering some of its key electric vehicle clients steep discounts to grab more market share, a move interpreted by the industry as likelihood of further drop in lithium chemical prices in the midterm.",{"type":567,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601],{"text":602,"type":572},"Battery-grade lithium carbonate was last assessed at RMB 434,000 ($62,925), compared to RMB 407,500 ($59,075) for technical-grade, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Price Assessment. Lithium hydroxide was assessed at RMB 460,000 ($66,700).",{"type":567,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[606],{"text":607,"type":572},"This year battery-grade lithium carbonate prices have declined 19% but have risen more than seven fold since January 2021, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Price Assessment.  ",{"type":567,"attrs":609,"content":610},{"textAlign":49},[611],{"text":612,"type":572},"More price declines?",{"type":567,"attrs":614,"content":615},{"textAlign":49},[616,618,626],{"text":617,"type":572},"Sales of new energy vehicles in China ",{"text":619,"type":572,"marks":620},"fell by 48%",[621],{"type":622,"attrs":623},"link",{"href":624,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":625},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/china-nev-sales-fall-by-48-in-january-hitting-battery-raw-material-prices","url",{"text":627,"type":572}," in January compared to December. New energy sales in China include plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles. Despite the slow start, China electric vehicle sales at the end of 2023 are expected to be higher than a year ago.",{"type":567,"attrs":629,"content":630},{"textAlign":49},[631],{"text":632,"type":572},"Electric passenger car and electric light duty vehicle sales in China are forecast to reach 9 million units by the end of 2023, compared to 6.2 million units last year, according to EV market analysis firm Rho Motion.",{"type":567,"attrs":634,"content":635},{"textAlign":49},[636],{"text":637,"type":572},"“There is a lot of uncertainty over what will happen with the EV market recovery and there is an expectation that some restocking may begin to happen by mid to end of March and we may ultimately see some demand pick up. We expect the demand throughout the year to be stronger than the previous year,” said Jennings-Gray.",{"type":567,"attrs":639,"content":640},{"textAlign":49},[641],{"text":642,"type":572},"Lithium demand is forecast to reach 900,000 tonnes by the end of this year, a jump of 28% year-on-year, according to Benchmark Lithium Forecast.",{"type":567,"attrs":644,"content":645},{"textAlign":49},[646],{"text":647,"type":572},"“I think this year, and especially the first half of this year, will be very volatile on the lithium spot market in China. Buyers and sellers are becoming increasingly sentiment driven and naturally that feeds into volatility. And then seasonality is becoming more prevalent as well as the market matures,” said Jennings-Gray.","Chinese lithium spot prices continued to fall for the eleventh straight week in mid February amid continued weakness in downstream battery demand for lithium, as large cathode makers destock raw material inventories, slowing down the two-year rally for the critical battery material. The price for battery-grade lithium carbonate fell by 7.6% between the 8th and […]",[650],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":651},{"job_title":558,"image":652,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},{"filename":560},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"1f3b06aa-aac3-492a-a611-1791392d857f\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[656,659],{"slug":657,"name":658},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":660,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":663,"name":663,"focus":663,"title":663,"source":663,"filename":664,"copyright":663,"fieldtype":665,"meta_data":666,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/fa113bb889/bm-xi-jinping-china-1271363d899b.png","asset",{"alt":663,"title":663,"source":663,"copyright":663},"Feb 24, 2023","24th February 2023",[],[],1782922356615]