New York, Feb 24, 2026, 13:42 (EST) — Regular session
- Albemarle climbed about 6% in midday U.S. trade, lifting a basket of lithium-linked shares.
- A broker note put China lithium carbonate at $19,479 a tonne on Feb. 23, while traders focused on post-holiday demand and supply restarts.
- China’s February lithium carbonate output plan is 88,300 tonnes, down 8.2% from January, SunSirs said.
U.S.-listed lithium stocks rose on Tuesday, led by Albemarle, as traders leaned into expectations of post-holiday restocking in China and watched for signs the latest rally in battery materials is sticking. Investing
The move matters because lithium equities still trade like a proxy for the commodity: small shifts in perceived supply tightness or Chinese buying can swing earnings expectations fast. After a long stretch of oversupply talk, investors have started paying attention again to inventories and mine restarts.
A daily market note from broker SP Angel pegged lithium carbonate 99% in China at $19,479 a tonne on Monday. Lithium carbonate is a key chemical used to make cathode materials for electric-vehicle and energy-storage batteries. Share Talk
Albemarle was up 6.2% at $188.58, while the Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF — a widely watched sector gauge — rose 2.6% to $75.73. Investing
Chilean miner SQM’s U.S.-listed shares added 3.8% to $75.82, tracking the broader lift across battery-material names. Investing
Sigma Lithium rose 1.7% to $12.66, according to Yahoo Finance data. Yahoo
SunSirs said lithium carbonate inventories dipped in the final week before China’s Spring Festival holiday, citing data from Shanghai Metals Market (SMM). It put total inventories at about 102,900 metric tons, down 2.4% month-on-month, and said February production plans stood at 88,300 tons, down 8.2% from January. Sunsirs
Mysteel said China’s battery-grade lithium carbonate spot market has stayed supported by low inventories and stronger energy-storage demand, even after a sharp dip earlier in the month. The consultancy said February output plans were lower, while regulatory checks in Jiangxi — a key lepidolite mining hub — were keeping some higher-cost supply constrained. Mysteel
Sigma Lithium, which ships lithium oxide concentrate (spodumene) from Brazil, on Monday issued updated production guidance and flagged planning work for Phase 2. The company said it targets 12-month annualised forward production of 240,000 tonnes and 24-month annualised forward production of 520,000 tonnes. Newsfilecorp
But the same supply story cuts both ways. SunSirs warned that restarts at domestic and overseas projects could inject short-term bearish signals into futures markets if they ramp faster than demand, and that price swings may widen as the market digests post-holiday buying.
The next clear read for investors is earnings guidance and price commentary from big producers, including SQM’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results due Feb. 27, with a conference call scheduled for March 2, according to its investor relations site. Sqm
