碳酸锂周报：供需双旺锂价有支撑，关注月底矿证问题-20250922

1. Report Industry Investment Rating - Not provided in the document 2. Core View of the Report - The lithium carbonate market shows a situation of both supply and demand booming, with support for lithium prices. The total inventory has been decreasing for six consecutive weeks, and the inventory of upstream smelters is significantly lower than the same period last year. Near the end of the month, the issue of mining licenses in Jiangxi may attract the attention of funds again. Lithium carbonate should be treated with a low - buy strategy [5]. 3. Summary by Relevant Catalogs Macro Overview - In August, China's economic data showed characteristics of "slow industry, weak investment, and light consumption", and the expectation of a new round of policy easing has increased. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points as expected, emphasizing the downward risk of employment and an increase in inflation, and is expected to cut interest rates twice this year and once next year. The Bank of Canada cut interest rates by 25 basis points as expected, while the Bank of England kept interest rates unchanged and slowed down the pace of quantitative tightening [3]. Supply Side - This week, the production of lithium carbonate continued to increase, with the weekly production maintaining above 20,000 tons and reaching a new high this year. The production of all raw materials increased slightly. As of September 19, the production of lithium carbonate was 21,125 tons, a week - on - week increase of 125 tons, and the enterprise operating rate was 48.93%, a week - on - week increase of 0.29% [3][10]. - As of September 19, the production of lithium hydroxide was 5,360 tons, a week - on - week increase of 125 tons, and the enterprise operating rate was 36.9%, a week - on - week increase of 0.86%. This week, the production of lithium hydroxide was still restricted by the high price of externally purchased raw materials and the maintenance of some production lines, with limited production release [12]. - As of September 19, the production of lithium iron phosphate was 78,226 tons, a week - on - week decrease of 81 tons, and the enterprise operating rate was 68.84%, a week - on - week decrease of 0.06%. The "Special Action Plan for the Large - scale Construction of New Energy Storage (2025 - 2027)" has driven the significant growth of orders from mainstream battery enterprises recently, which has led to the demand for shipments from lithium iron phosphate manufacturers [14]. Demand Side - From September 1 - 14, the retail sales of the new - energy passenger vehicle market in China were 438,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 6% compared with the same period in September last year and a 10% increase compared with the same period last month. The retail penetration rate was 59.8%. The cumulative retail sales this year were 8.008 million units, a year - on - year increase of 25%. The wholesale volume of new - energy passenger vehicles from manufacturers was 447,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 10% compared with the same period in September last year and a 21% increase compared with the same period last month, and the wholesale penetration rate was 57.7% [3]. Cost Profit - This week, the price of the mining end increased month - on - month. The quotation of African SC 5% was 610 US dollars per ton, unchanged from last week; the CIF price of Australian 6% spodumene was 830 US dollars per ton, a week - on - week increase of 30 US dollars per ton; the market price of lithium mica was 2,330 yuan per ton, unchanged from last week. As of September 19, the production cost of lithium carbonate was 68,169 yuan per ton, a week - on - week increase of 2,802 yuan, and the industry profit was 5,213 yuan per ton, a week - on - week decrease of 2,595 yuan [4][46]. - As of September 19, the production cost of lithium hydroxide was 68,462 yuan per ton, a week - on - week decrease of 52 yuan, and the industry profit was 6,571 yuan per ton, a week - on - week decrease of 29 yuan [51]. - As of September 19, the production cost of lithium iron phosphate was 34,583 yuan per ton, a week - on - week increase of 220 yuan per ton, and the loss was 735 yuan per ton, a week - on - week decrease of 207 yuan per ton [53]. Total Inventory - As of September 18, the total inventory of lithium carbonate was 137,531 tons, a decrease of 981 tons from last week. Among them, the inventory of upstream smelters was 34,456 tons, a week - on - week decrease of 1,757 tons. The total inventory of lithium carbonate continued to decline, the inventory of smelters decreased rapidly, the downstream production schedule was good, maintaining the restocking rhythm, traders actively shipped, the inventory decreased, and the restocking sentiment was strong [5][32]. - As of September 19, the total inventory of the lithium iron phosphate industry was 50,450 tons, an increase of 900 tons from last week. This week, the finished - product inventory of lithium iron phosphate increased significantly. The industry is in a situation of both supply and demand booming, and the supply of the lithium iron phosphate industry in September increased by more than 5% month - on - month [35]. Market Price - As of September 19, LC2511 closed at 73,960 yuan per ton, a 3.9% increase from last week. The spot price of battery - grade lithium carbonate was 73,000 yuan per ton, a 2.82% increase from last week, with a basis discount, and the position of the main contract was 280,000 [8]. - The prices of various lithium - related products showed different trends. For example, the price of 6% spodumene increased by 3.75% week - on - week, the price of battery - grade lithium carbonate increased by 2.82% week - on - week, and the price of industrial - grade lithium carbonate increased by 2.88% week - on - week [6].