Market price of domestic ternary materials remains stable at a high position this week. As of Friday, prices of NCM523 ternary materials for power battery are largely at 235,000-240,000 yuan/ton; NCM523 ternary materials for high-capacity battery are 210,000-225,000 yuan/ton, and NCM811 ternary materials are 260,000-270,000 yuan/ton. Following a mild dip in cobalt price, ternary precursor price also dropped around 5,000 yuan/ton this week although it keeps stable for the time being. The expansion of high-nickle ternary materials production line has notably accelerated since April. For instance, Hunan Shanshan's 8kt/a high-nickle production line is ready to go; Xinxiang Tianli, Henan Kelong and other companies' 811 production lines are about to start operation. On the downstream lithium battery market, Hefei Guoxuan's upgraded ternary 622 battery production line is expected to start operation in the Q3; DLG Power Battery, Lishen, EVE and others will all expand capacities in this regard and look to improve product quality.
Ternary precursor is largely quoted at 142,000-145,000 yuan/ton, down 5,000 yuan/ton from last week, which is mainly due to substantial drop of raw material cobaltous sulfate price and tepid demand from downstream sectors. Market demand for ternary precursor is rather muted and there hasn't been much market turnover this week. Cobaltous sulfate price has pulled back on a rational basis. The quoting price is largely at 135,000-141,000 yuan/ton, down 9,000 yuan/ton from last week. Nickel sulfate is largely at 26,000-28,000 yuan/ton. Major enterprises indicated that shipment has been at an average level and production is normal. Manganese sulphate market continues to hold steady. Price is largely at 6,600-6,900 yuan/ton.
Cobalt: The continued stable performance of cobalt on overseas market has somewhat rattled domestic producers, throwing domestic cobalt price into consecutive drop in recent two weeks. Domestic cobalt price is largely at 650,000-675,000 yuan/ton, down 3,000-10,000 yuan/ton from last week. Downstream sectors mostly hold wait-and-watch stance. Quoting price of cobalt oxide maintains stable for the time being this week, which is at 49.5-50.5 yuan per kilogram.
LiFePO (lithium iron phosphate) is still consolidating at a weak position, with market price largely at 70,000-75,000 yuan / ton. According to preliminary data from ICC News, the operation rate of LiFePO enterprises in April is even lower than that in March. It is mainly because they had increased operating rate in March to replenish inventories after the CNY holiday and they started to reduce production in April when the market failed to see notable improvement. The market is expected to turn better in May and many are taking a wait-and-see stance.
Lithium carbonate prices have dropped noticeably this week. The performance of cathode materials in April still falls short of expectations. Especially, demand for LiFePO is even lower than that in March, which has led to clear lithium carbonate oversupply. Hence, the downward trend of price is quite evident; right now, battery grade lithium carbonate is largely at 140,000-145,000 yuan / ton, industrial grade lithium carbonate is 130,000-135,000 yuan / ton and lithium hydroxide 145,000 yuan / ton.
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