The continued price increase of raw materials after the spring festival has made lithium battery companies overwhelmed. Some companies in the field of small digital batteries have begun to increase their quotations one after another, with a single price increase ranging from ¥0.1-0.2/each. In terms of power batteries, the cost pressure of enterprises is relatively high, and sales are still mainly based on the execution of long-term contracts, and the cost has not been transmitted to downstream industries. In terms of production, mainstream battery factories hardly stopped production during the Spring Festival, and demand remained strong. The industry as a whole presents a highly optimistic atmosphere.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP):
During the Spring Festival, mainstream LFP companies did not stop operations, in order to produce and deliver on time. At present, the price of power LFP ranges from ¥44,000-48,000/ton, and the energy storage type is priced at ¥42,000/ton. Due to the continuous rise of raw materials, it is still possible to continue to increase in the future. From the supply side, LFP will be in a state of extreme shortage in the first half of the year, and the state of short supply will continue for a long time.
Driven by the increase in the prices of metal raw materials such as cobalt and nickel during the holidays, the prices of domestic NCM materials have risen sharply after the holiday, and the increase of 5-series NCM materials generally exceeds ¥5,000. In terms of actual market transactions, the market’s wait-and-see sentiment was strong in the first week after the holiday. NCM materials companies generally did not make external quotations. The purchase willingness of downstream battery factories was also plain with inquiries taking the major share, and only transactions for inelastic demand were made.
The price rose significantly this week, due to the sharp increase in the prices of cobalt sulfate and nickel sulfate. Especially for cobalt sulphate materials, the market sentiment was frenzied after the holiday, and the quotations of the holders were as high as ￥90,000-100,000/ton, which was a significant increase compared to the pre-holiday. Downstream enterprises can only stay on the sidelines and wait for the market to return to rationality.
Lithium manganate: Driven by the price increase of raw materials such as lithium carbonate and manganese dioxide before the holiday, the price of lithium manganate rose continuously. After the holiday, the manufacturers of LMO that did not adjust the price began to increase their price, and the prices of the manufacturers with the larger increase in the previous period have been temporarily stable. Judging from the start-up situation, most LMO manufacturers still maintain normal production during the Spring Festival, and some manufacturers during the Spring Festival holiday also resume normal production after the 18th. The new production line of Boshi High-Tech in December 2020 has now begun to put into production.
During the Spring Festival, the anode material industry production enterprises are basically non-stop, and the anode material market prices after the holiday has begun to surge. Since the second half of 2020, the domestic low-sulfur coke prices have increased by 180%, needle coke prices have increased by 60%-100%, and graphitized prices have risen ￥2000/ton. Production costs continued to rise, making the price pressure of mid-end anode materials unable to digest, thus gradually spread to downstream industries. Around the Spring Festival, the quotations of some new anode materials have increased by about 10%. In 2021, the supply of imported high-quality oil-based needle coke will be tight and the price will rise. It is expected that the price of high-end anode materials will also increase.
Electrolyte:
The electrolyte market atmosphere is still tight after the holiday. The hard gap in additives has caused some manufacturers to fight for products. Lithium hexafluorophosphate manufacturers generally have not given clear quotations after the holiday. The shipments are mainly for previous orders, with the upward trend unchanged. The price of electrolyte is also increasing during the Spring Festival. Some companies that did not increase before the holiday will do so for the new orders after the holiday. Under the influence of insufficient supply of raw materials, the increase of electrolyte will be relatively smooth.
CONTACT US
ICC APP
