2 producer Chile to nationalise its lithium sector may curb long-term supply growth, but it is not expected to have an immediate impact, analysts said. Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices in China rose 10.6% from a week earlier to 182,500 yuan ($26,380) a tonne, the first weekly increase since November 2022, data by Fastmarkets on Refinitiv Eikon showed. But prices tumbled 72% after China curbed EV subsidies in January, demand faltered and inventories rose. Global EV sales jumped 55% last year to 10 million and are expected to climb another 35% this year. Chinese state-backed research house Antaike expects lithium carbonate prices to average 220,000 yuan a tonne this year, down 54% from 2022, it said at a conference last week.

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