Falls below 110,000 yuan/ton, lithium carbonate price reaches a "crossroads" again, energy storage may become the core engine of demand growth.

On October 13, the main lithium carbonate futures contract LC2701 fell 1.67%, closing at 107,060 yuan/ton, narrowing from the 11.79% drop in the previous trading day. According to statistics, since September, LC2701 has accumulated a decline of 33.5%, once hitting a year-low of 102,700 yuan/ton. On the spot side, Mysteel data showed that on October 13, the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate fell another 2,900 yuan from the previous day to 108,850 yuan/ton. "Lithium carbonate inventories are rising," "energy storage demand is falling short of expectations," "supply is set to be in surplus again"... Recently, the lithium carbonate industry seems rather sluggish. People who have long tracked the lithium carbonate industry say bluntly that the continued weakness in lithium carbonate prices since September is more due to news-driven disturbances combined with capital games in the futures market, and the spot supply-demand relationship is not that loose. Overall, the market's "worry" about lithium carbonate mainly comes from the potential risk of a decline in energy storage demand. The industry generally believes that energy storage is the core engine driving growth in lithium carbonate demand. Some analysts believe that considering the effective window for high-yield capacity electricity prices is only 2 to 3 years, energy storage installations are expected to maintain high growth in 2026 and 2027.