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After the "May Day" holiday, the price of lithium carbonate not only stabilized but also entered a significant upward trend. 

According to the latest data released by www.smm.cn on May 12th, the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate rose by 17,000 yuan/tonne to 242,000 yuan/tonne on the day, achieving 10-day consecutive increases. This month, there have been several daily increases of more than 10,000 yuan/tonne, rebounding 6.35 yuan/tonne from the low point of 17.85 yuan/tonne in late April, with a rebound rate of up to 35.6%.

As one of the main raw materials for power batteries, the price of lithium carbonate has undergone ups and downs in the past year and a half, rising all the way from about 280,000 yuan/tonne at the beginning of 2022 to a new record of nearly 600,000 yuan/tonne in November of that year, followed by a rapid decline, falling below 180,000 yuan/tonne in late April this year.

Just after the "May Day" holiday, the price of lithium carbonate, which has fallen by 70% in half a year, has once again experienced a bottom-up rebound. It was learned that many domestic lithium salt companies raised the prices of lithium carbonate on May 4th and 5th, with single increases mostly ranging from 10,000-15,000 yuan/tonne.

Qu Lin, a lithium carbonate analyst, pointed out to reporters that due to the extremely limited supply of lithium mica, an upstream raw material, and the high price of imported spodumene concentrate, some lithium mica companies and lithium salt factories are facing cost inversion and other problems, leading to a large number of OEMs as well as reduced production or shutdowns, driving down the operating rate of lithium carbonate production, and making the market spot supply scarce, supporting the rising lithium carbonate price.

The fluctuation of lithium carbonate prices affects the entire new energy industry chain. Does the price markup signal the end of the price war of NEVs?

Several industry insiders told reporters that it is still too early to discuss the end of the price war. Currently, the market generally believes that this round of lithium carbonate price increase is only a short-term market trend. Two people predicted that the price of lithium carbonate is likely to fall below 100,000 yuan/tonne.