On the electronic screen of the futures exchange, red numbers keep jumping, and a silent battle is being staged in the lithium carbonate futures market.

In the past three weeks, the holdings and capital flows in the lithium carbonate futures market have changed. For example, long contracts are quietly closed, and a considerable amount of funds are leaving this “battlefield” once called “white oil”.

On September 16, 2025, the latest data from the Business Society showed that the domestic battery-grade lithium carbonate benchmark price has fallen to 71,683 yuan/ton, down 3.07% from last week, down 11.94% month-on-month and 8.33% year-on-year.

Behind the numbers is a big long evacuation that lasts for weeks.

Li Xiangdong, the futures trading director of a large lithium salt company in East China, told the Economic Observer reporter: “We have closed all the remaining long positions last week. Although we lost about 15%, compared with the risk of continuing to hold orders, I believe this decision is correct.”

On September 10, the main contract of domestic lithium carbonate futures opened sharply, reaching a low of 68,600 yuan/ton during the session, approaching the limit. Although the decline narrowed slightly since then, it still fell by more than 5%.

One of the direct triggers behind this fluctuation is the rapid rise in market expectations that the Lixiawo Lithium Mine, a subsidiary of CATL, will resume production.

Li Xiangdong believes that although CATL has not yet made a clear time for resumption of production, the market is likely to value its expectations for resumption of production first.