SMM

This week, lithium hydroxide prices extended last week’s weakness, but the week-on-week decline was limited. On the supply side, plants that had scheduled mid-month maintenance have resumed operations, bringing overall output back to previous levels. Sentiment-wise, producers are adamant about holding prices: spot offers remain anchored at—or at a premium to—the current average. Combined with still-tight spot availability, this has forced the price level that downstream buyers can actually accept to drift higher. Consequently, even as lithium carbonate and spodumene prices have fallen sharply, lithium hydroxide’s drop has been modest.