According to the Commodity Market Analysis System of Shengyi Society, the price of lithium carbonate has shown a fluctuating trend recently. As of March 17th, the benchmark price of battery grade lithium carbonate in Shengyi Society was 155000 yuan/ton, a decrease of 3.12% compared to the same period last week (March 10th), a month on month increase of 6.9%, and a year-on-year increase of 10.3%.
Inventory side: Low inventory supports firm prices
The industry’s inventory remains low and the trend of destocking is clear. Statistics show that spot inventory of lithium carbonate has dropped to a temporary low, with smelter inventory reaching a nearly three-year low and downstream stocking also at a low level. The low inventory pattern significantly narrows the downward space for prices, providing strong support for lithium prices.
Supply side: Frequent disturbances both domestically and internationally
The impact of the Spring Festival holiday is gradually subsiding, and domestic lithium salt enterprises have generally resumed production, resulting in a significant rebound in the overall production schedule of the industry.
However, the supply elasticity of the industry is still constrained by multiple factors: on the one hand, the progress of domestic core lithium resource resumption is not as expected; On the other hand, there has been a sudden change in the policies of key lithium resource countries overseas, which has caused significant disruptions to the supply chain. The country recently announced a suspension of all lithium concentrate exports to promote localized processing of lithium resources. Although other major exporting countries have increased their exports of lithium concentrate to China on a month on month basis, to some extent filling the supply gap, the fragility of the global lithium supply chain has been further highlighted.
Demand side: Energy storage becomes the core growth engine of demand
The downstream has entered the traditional production peak season, and the production scheduling data has shown impressive performance. On March 16th, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to introduce the operation of the national economy in January and February 2026. At the meeting, it was stated that the production of lithium-ion batteries for energy storage increased by 84% from January to February. The demand for energy storage is growing rapidly. Although the sales of new energy vehicles have fluctuated due to seasonal factors in the early stage, the production of power batteries has shown a significant seasonal recovery, providing solid support for overall demand.
Business Society’s lithium carbonate data analyst believes that the explosive growth of energy storage demand has become a deterministic trend, while global lithium resource supply continues to be constrained by multiple factors such as geopolitics, environmental protection, and industrial policies. The lithium carbonate market is gradually shifting from a loose pattern in the early stage to a tight balance in the medium to long term, and the price center is receiving strong support. Specific attention still needs to be paid to changes in market supply and demand.