Lithium carbonate prices were at CNY 61,300 per tonne in July, halting this year’s aggressive downturn from this year but holding near the lowest since 2021 as markets weighed ample supply against seemingly robust demand. Higher lithium output in China, Indonesia, and the DR Congo continued to pressure selling competition, with estimates from the IEA indicating that lithium supply surged 35% last year.
Output is set to continue rising since miners refrain from closing operations to retain market share and business relationships with governments and battery producers. In the meantime, electric vehicle sales in China rose by over 28% annually in May amid the government’s incentive to trade-in autos for new energy vehicles. While growing sharply, the data was in line with recent trends that China’s EV market has not grown at the pace expected following the boom at the turn of the decade, resulting in subsidies for battery producers that triggered a surge in output and a supply glut.
