碳酸锂期货日报-20260318

Group 1: Report Overview - Report Name: Carbonate Lithium Futures Daily Report [1] - Date: March 18, 2026 [2] - Research Team: Non - ferrous Metals Research Team [4] - Researchers: Zhang Ping, Yu Feifei, Peng Jinglin [3] Group 2: Market Analysis 1. Market Conditions - Carbonate lithium futures fluctuated downward, with the total open interest increasing slightly by 2,309 lots. The 05 - 09 spread on the market remained at a backwardation of 60. The market's risk - aversion sentiment returned, and the upward movement of lithium prices was frustrated [12]. - The spot market made up for the price increase. The price of spot electric carbon rose by 2,000 to 157,000 in the evening session. Upstream suppliers were reluctant to sell, and downstream buyers were observing. Australian ore prices rose by 10 to 2,170, mica ore prices remained flat at 2,325, and the prices of ternary and lithium iron phosphate materials were both unchanged [12]. - Currently, the carbonate lithium market features high production, high imports, and high demand. The inventory reduction speed of domestic carbonate lithium has slowed down. There are still macro uncertainties, and the sentiment of capital speculation is not high. It is expected that the carbonate lithium price will continue to show a fluctuating trend [12]. 2. Industry News - Japan and the United States will reach an agreement on the joint development of rare earths, lithium, and copper at this week's summit [13]. - Zangge Mining stated at its performance briefing that the Mami Cuo Salt Lake it is developing is located in the Ali region of Tibet, mainly containing surface brine. The Mami Cuo Salt Lake project uses advanced lithium extraction technologies such as adsorption and membrane separation. It is planned to be built in two phases with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons of carbonate lithium. The first - phase project is planned to have an annual production capacity of 50,000 tons of carbonate lithium. As of now, the main workshop of the project has been enclosed, and it is in the equipment installation stage, progressing smoothly according to the construction plan. The first - phase project of the Mami Cuo Salt Lake is expected to be fully put into production in the third quarter of 2026 and enter the capacity - release period [13]. - Diversified mining giant Rio Tinto announced that after taking over the direct management of Nemaska Lithium in February, it decided to slow down the construction progress of the Bécancour lithium hydroxide conversion project in Quebec, Canada, after in - depth review. Rio Tinto said that the review concluded that adjustments were needed to put the project on a more stable and sustainable development path. Therefore, construction activities will be reduced for the rest of this year, and efforts will be made to complete the optimization work. This decision was reached through consensus between Rio Tinto and the Nemaska Lithium board of directors. Rio Tinto revealed that the engineering design of the Bécancour project has been fully completed, and the current construction progress has exceeded 70%. It was reported that the construction progress of the project reached 60% at the end of 2025, and the engineering design was completed simultaneously. It was originally planned to start commissioning work in 2026, with the goal of achieving the first commercial production in 2028. During the optimization phase, some construction activities will continue, while the rest will be suspended or postponed. The number of on - site contractor employees is expected to temporarily decrease. Rio Tinto is working closely with its contracting partners to provide support to the affected personnel [13][14]