Demand Continues to Surge, Prices Break Through and Rise

December 15th, news

According to the commodity market analysis system: The price of lithium carbonate has been continuously rising recently. As of December 15, the benchmark price for battery-grade lithium carbonate is 96,233 CNY per ton, an increase of 4% compared to the same period last week (December 8), a 12.29% increase month-over-month, and a 19.69% increase year-over-year. The benchmark price for industrial-grade lithium carbonate is 94,533 CNY per ton, an increase of 4.07% compared to the same period last week, a 12.63% increase month-over-month, and a 21.2% increase year-over-year.

Factors Supporting Price Increases

1. Demand continues to surge

The demand for energy storage is experiencing explosive growth and has become a core pillar of demand. Order schedules have now extended into 2026, effectively offsetting the seasonal downturn in demand for new-energy vehicles. In November, China’s combined production of power batteries and energy-storage batteries reached 176.3 GWh, an increase of 3.3% from the previous month.

2. Supply-side contraction

Although there was a slight increase in lithium carbonate production in November, with the gradual commissioning of some new production lines, it is expected that China's lithium carbonate production will grow by about 3% month-over-month in December, with supply steadily increasing. However, the tight supply situation at the lithium mine end has not improved. Market reports indicate that there is a severe shortage of mines in the Yichun area, and the resumption of production at CATL's Jianxiawo lithium mine is unlikely to happen within the year. In the short term, the supply gap will be difficult to fill.

3. The trend of destocking continues

According to market data, the inventory of lithium carbonate in China is decreasing at a rate of 3,000 tons per week in the fourth quarter, and this destocking trend is supporting an upward shift in the price center.

Lithium carbonate data analysts believe: the current explosive growth in downstream energy storage for lithium carbonate, along with a mismatch in supply and demand that is difficult to reverse in the short term, supports price increases through continued inventory reduction. In the short term, prices will still fluctuate, and specific attention needs to be paid to changes in market supply and demand as well as the progress of mine resumption in China.