"In the wake of poor domestic demand, exporters are offering bigger discounts of their material to overseas buyers to destock," Vicky Zhao, a Beijing-based senior analyst at Fastmarkets, said ahead of the data's release. China's overall exports showed a surprise jump in March because of the rising demand for lithium batteries as well as electric vehicles and solar products, officials said earlier this month. Spot prices for lithium hydroxide delivered to China, Japan and South Korea assessed by Fastmarkets dropped to $40.50 per kg on April 20, less than half of the peak price of $85 per kg last December. ($1 = 6.8762 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Siyi Liu, Amy Lv and Dominique Patton in Beijing; Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; Editing by Sonali Paul and Christian Schmollinger)
BEIJING, April 21 (Reuters) - China's exports of lithium
hydroxide in the first quarter surged 72% from a year ago,
customs data showed on Friday, underpinned by strong overseas
demand for battery raw materials and falling prices.
The world's top producer and exporter of the battery metal
shipped out 30,206 tonnes in the first three months of 2023, up
from 17,559 tonnes exported during the same period in 2022.
In March, exports rose 77% from a year earlier to 10,235
tonnes.
Spot lithium hydroxide prices in China averaged 355,000
yuan ($51,627) a tonne in March, down 40% from an average
590,000 yuan a tonne in November when the market hit an all-time
high, according to data from Fastmarkets. The sharp downtrend was because of weakening demand from
China's electric vehicle (EV) market after Beijing ended its
national subsidies this year, as well as high lithium stocks.
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