Since August, the cathode material market demand has recovered, and the demand for upstream lithium battery raw materials has increased month-on-month, but it is still lower than the same period last year. Moreover, the market is pessimistic, and they are cautious about the peak demand season from September to October. In addition to tight cash flow, most manufacturers are reluctant to make more inventory. Most of them purchase on demand, maintaining low inventory levels, and low inventory levels tend to be smelted upstream The trend of enterprise spread is expected to further increase the pressure on cobalt raw material suppliers.

Electrolytic cobalt: This week, foreign media continued to rise slightly, which did not drive the domestic market much. Although the speculative market followed the rapid rise, the spot market performed very quietly, because the consumption end was mainly to digest inventory, and the sharp increase in raw materials caused terminal consumption to deviate. In the market, orders have dropped a lot. Therefore, the rebound in overseas has caused market participants to have more doubts about the bad environment, and they are cautious and wait and see in operation. The price of SMM electrolytic cobalt is 47.20-490,600 yuan/ton, and the average price is 3,000 yuan/ton higher than last week.

Cobalt salt and nickel salt: The foreign media cobalt price stopped falling and the rise failed to stimulate the cobalt salt market. Leading smelters raised their quotations for cobalt salts this week, but the tentative increase in quotations has not been actively responded to by the downstream, and prices remain stable under weak demand. At present, only a very small number of manufacturers in the cobalt raw material market have locked orders for raw materials, and the order of locked orders is far from the previous two waves of stockpiling, and the demand for the cobalt salt market is very limited. The price of SMM cobalt sulphate was 9,000 to 93,000 yuan/ton, the average price was the same as last week. The current price of SMM cobalt chloride is 10.70 to 109,000 yuan/ton, the average price is the same as last week. The price of SMM nickel sulfate is 26000.00-28000.00 yuan/ton, the average price is the same as last week.

Cobalt tetroxide: The number of cobalt tetraoxide transactions has increased, but the transaction price continues to be sluggish. The main reason is that after September, the major manufacturers whose demand has recovered significantly did not increase the proportion of outsourced cobalt tetraoxide, but consumed tetracobalt made from raw materials purchased in the early stage. . This year's digital market demand is significantly lower than expected, the peak season is shortened, and the general environment is affected. Market participants have a pessimistic mentality and a serious price depression mentality. The current price of SMM cobalt tetroxide is 33.5-345 million yuan/ton, and the average price is 0.5 million yuan/ton lower than last week.

Cobalt oxide: The market demand for cobalt oxide is relatively stable, and the trading volume has recovered slightly recently. After the quotation of foreign media stops falling, the market is still on the wait-and-see attitude, and the price is expected to remain stable for a while. The current price of SMM cobalt oxide is 32.5-33.5 million yuan/ton, the average price is the same as last week. The cobalt powder market was shipped steadily in the middle of the month, the downstream demand did not increase significantly, and the transaction price was stable. The price of SMM cobalt powder was 51.0-520 million yuan/ton, the average price was the same as last week.

Ternary precursors (523 power type): The transaction volume of the ternary precursors market has increased, and manufacturers said that domestic and foreign orders have increased. In addition, considering that some areas are affected by environmental inspections and have to maintain a low operating rate, smm expects that the ternary precursor market will consume a portion of the preliminary inventory, and the ternary precursor manufacturers will have a smooth market in the next two months. The price of SMM ternary precursors (Type 523) was 11.20 to 114,000 yuan/ton, and the average price dropped by 0.2 million yuan/ton from last week. The price of SMM ternary precursor (Type 622) was 11.8-120 million yuan/ton, and the average price dropped by 0.2 million yuan/ton from last week.

Lithium carbonate: The price of battery-grade lithium carbonate declined, but the rate of decline slowed down. Entering mid-September, the demand of some downstream cathode material factories showed signs of recovery. Although it is not obvious, there is a slight improvement. The price of SMM lithium carbonate is 8.10-85 million yuan/ton, and the average price is 0.15 million yuan/ton lower than last week.

Lithium hydroxide: The price of battery-grade lithium hydroxide remained stable this week. The demand is stable, and the improvement is not obvious for the time being. The price of fine-powder-grade lithium hydroxide is 13-135,000 yuan/ton, and the price of battery-grade coarse-grained lithium hydroxide is 120-125,000 yuan/ton. This week, the price of SMM battery-grade lithium hydroxide was 12.5-135,000 yuan/ton, the average price was the same as last week.

Lithium cobalt oxide: The market demand for lithium cobalt oxide has improved, but the improvement is mainly due to the leading battery factories. The leading battery factories have certain raw materials in the early stage. Therefore, the market demand is good and the rotation power is greatly reduced. The rest of the battery factories have insufficient power to recover. Weakened. The price of SMM 4.35V lithium cobalt oxide was 34.2-352,000 yuan/ton, the average price dropped by 0.3 million yuan/ton from last week.

Ternary materials (523 power type): In the middle of the month, the ternary materials market was shipped steadily, and orders from large manufacturers were in short supply. Some battery factories' orders overflowed to large factories with new capacity and medium-sized cathode material factories. The price of SMM ternary materials (Type 523) was 17.30 to 183,000 yuan/ton, and the average price dropped by 0.2 million yuan/ton from last week. The price of SMM ternary materials (type 622) was 196-200,000 yuan/ton, and the average price dropped by 0.2 million yuan/ton from last week.

Lithium iron phosphate (power type): The trading volume of lithium iron phosphate market has rebounded. It is expected that the downstream demand will continue to recover in the next two months. The operating rate of lithium iron phosphate is expected to increase further, but the transaction price may be affected by lithium carbonate. This week, the price of SMM lithium iron phosphate (power type) was 6.4-690 thousand yuan/ton, the average price was the same as last week.

Lithium manganate: Lithium manganate transactions were relatively flat this week, and manufacturers said they did not feel a significant recovery. According to market experience, downstream demand should generally increase significantly by the end of September and early October. This week, the price of SMM lithium manganate (capacity type) was 4.2-52 million yuan/ton, the average price was the same as last week. The price of lithium manganate (power type) was 5.8-64 million yuan/ton, the average price was the same as last week.

Market outlook: The recovery of the cathode material market has provided certain support to the recent downturn in lithium prices. The inventory of finished products in major factories will no longer continue to increase month by month, and the inventory increase will remain at a safer level. However, the transaction price has been attacked by the new factory and brine lithium, and the transaction price is still in a downward channel, and the decline has slowed down. SMM predicts that the decline in the price of lithium carbonate in the later period will force the price of lithium concentrate and lithium hydroxide to decline in the price premium of lithium carbonate. The price of lithium ore is the first to respond (or with the delay of some planned new mines). Affected by technical bottlenecks, it is expected that the decline in premiums will be slower, and the response will be more pronounced after the Spring Festival next year. After premiums and discounts return to a reasonable level, and smelters without raw material advantages cannot seek other arbitrage opportunities and are forced to stop, the lithium salt market will reach a new stage of equilibrium.