The battery market has not changed much this week. EVE Lithium Energy has purchased land in Hungary to produce cylindrical power batteries and accelerate its overseas layout; Panasonic has postponed the commercial production of Tesla 4680 batteries, and the difficult production of 4680 is beneficial for leading domestic power battery manufacturers; In April, car sales in major EU countries showed an upward trend, with China's production and sales of new energy vehicles reaching 640000 and 636000 units respectively, a year-on-year increase of 1.1 times, and a market share of 29.5%; The deputy chief engineer of the China Automobile Association stated that the detailed rules for EV going to the countryside are still in the preparation process; BYD Automotive has acquired 1 billion shares of Yian Property and Casualty Insurance, with a shareholding ratio of 100%. It has entered the automotive insurance industry to better create a closed-loop ecosystem for new energy vehicle insurance.
LFP:
After nearly half a year of continuous decline, lithium carbonate has finally resumed its upward trend, and under cost support, lithium iron phosphate has also started to recover. Currently, the mainstream quotation for power type has reached 85000 yuan/ton. Under the market's resurgence and upward trend, as there is no need to worry about inventory depreciation losses, the production burden of various enterprises has slightly increased. Downstream demand orders have also rebounded, especially for high growth energy storage ports. It is expected that the month on month growth rate of lithium iron phosphate production and sales in May will be 10%. In terms of market news, Tianyuan Group's annual production of 100000 tons of lithium iron phosphate cathode material project, Phase I, has achieved the expected stage target of 25000 tons of product quality and performance; Chuanjinnuo plans to acquire 100% equity of Yingkou Chuanxinnuo and invest in the lithium iron phosphate field.
NCM:
The quotation for ternary materials has stopped falling and rebounded this Wednesday. From a market perspective, there has been no significant improvement in downstream demand, and the upward trend in lithium carbonate prices has provided some support for the ternary price. The recovery of the lithium salt market is more benefited by the replenishment demand of the material end, and the actual order repair efforts are still weak. From the perspective of the future market, material manufacturers still maintain a cautious attitude towards the recovery of the power end market. It is expected that the overall level in May will be similar to March, and the improvement in demand for the digital end will be more optimistic.
NCM Precursor:
The quotation for ternary precursor was slightly lowered this Wednesday. In terms of raw materials, the demand for overseas orders has not significantly increased, and the production rhythm is mainly stable. It is difficult to find favorable support in the high nickel market, and the price of nickel sulfate continues to decline. The digital end market has rebounded to some extent, and the cobalt sulfate quotation is temporarily stable. In terms of production, the precursor quotation has fallen near the cost line, and there is limited space for further exploration. Considering the material end inventory consumption situation, it is expected that the supply will slightly increase by 5% -10% month on month in May.
Lithium Carbonate:
The price of lithium carbonate in China has risen strongly this week, and lithium salt factories have a strong willingness to sell at high prices. This week, Lanke Lithium's 600 ton lithium carbonate auction price exceeded 250000 yuan/ton, and Yichun 414 Mine's 2.2% lithium mica concentrate 8000 ton auction price was 8666.66 yuan/ton. The two auctions rose sharply beyond expectations. Guided by the auction price, the spot market price kept rising, rising by around 20000 yuan/ton in a single day. As of this Friday, the mainstream quotation for lithium carbonate (industrial grade 99.0%) in the market is between 230000 to 245000 yuan/ton, an increase of 47500 yuan/ton compared to last week. The price of lithium carbonate (battery grade 99.5%) is between 235000 to 250000 yuan/ton, an increase of 50000 yuan/ton compared to last week. The price of lithium hydroxide (coarse particle) is between 235000 to 245000 yuan/ton, an increase of 20000 yuan/ton compared to last week. The price of lithium hydroxide (micro powder grade) is between 245000 to 255000 yuan/ton, The price has increased by 20000 yuan/ton compared to last week. From a supply perspective, since the price of lithium carbonate entered the upward channel at the end of April, manufacturers' production enthusiasm has increased. However, due to the high prices of imported spodumene from overseas and the shortage of domestic lithium mica ore supply, some lithium salt factories have limited production. Although the industry's inventory is still at a high level, many low-priced sources are not sold to the outside world, resulting in a shortage of lithium carbonate spot supply. In terms of demand, in May, the overall production scheduling of downstream enterprises was better, the market fundamentals and emotions were gradually being repaired, and the material factories gradually increased the purchase of raw materials. However, the current surge in the price of lithium carbonate was heavily guided by market sentiment, and there was doubt about the sustained increase. The future demand still needs to be further wait-and-see, and the short-term price of lithium carbonate may be stronger.
This week, the market is gradually recovering, with downstream industry demand maintaining double-digit growth. At the same time, with the gradual recovery of lithium carbonate prices, industry confidence is generally restored.
In terms of dry production, with the increasing demand from downstream power plants and energy storage enterprises, some enterprises' dry production lines are operating at full capacity. In terms of wet processes, there are differences in downstream customer structures among manufacturers.
In terms of price, with the continued downward trend of coating grade PVDF prices in early May, there is limited room for further significant decline. At the same time, with the recovery of industry demand, diaphragm prices are expected to maintain phased stability.
Enterprise News: On the evening of May 11th, Changyang Technology announced that the company plans to invest in the construction of an "annual production of 400 million square meters of lithium-ion battery separators for energy storage and power vehicles" project, with a total investment of 187 million yuan. The project will be implemented by Zhejiang Changyang Technology Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. The company stated that the project expands production capacity around its main business, which is conducive to further expanding business scale, enhancing market development capabilities, and improving the company's overall competitiveness.
Anode：
This week, the anode material market transitioned smoothly, with anode companies mostly relying on inventory to develop production plans. Some companies have increased their orders, but there are many negative factors in the overall market. Downstream market demand has not significantly improved, procurement is cautious, and the pressure on prices is still strong. At present, the homogenization of low-end anode products is severe, and the prices have bottomed out under successive bidding. It is expected that the prices of anode materials will remain stable in the short term, and all parties will remain on the sidelines.
In terms of raw materials: the price of main low sulfur petroleum coke continued to rise slightly this week, the demand for anode materials improved, and the enthusiasm of downstream customers was strong. It is expected that the future market will be adjusted slightly; The transaction price of needle coke market has declined, and enterprises are maintaining low load production, with some inventory pressure. It is expected that the market will continue to operate in a weak manner in the future.
There is no significant fluctuation in the graphitization market, and most enterprises are in a state of shutdown. The utilization rate of production capacity of enterprises that start construction is also low, and the contract manufacturing price is near the cost line. The mainstream transaction price is reported at 1-13000 yuan/ton.
Overall, although there is some positive information on terminal demand, it is expected that the short-term negative electrode market will remain weak and the industry is slowly recovering.
Electrolyte：
This week, the electrolyte market has improved significantly and the order volume has also increased significantly. The main reason is that the market expects future price increases and signs orders in advance to lock in prices and control enterprise costs; The second is that downstream inventory is depleted, and market growth is caused by customers replenishing inventory. In terms of price, due to the increase in raw material prices, electrolyte prices have increased driven by costs. However, due to fierce competition in the electrolyte market, the increase in electrolyte prices is not significant.
In terms of raw materials, due to the rise in lithium carbonate prices, the growth rate of lithium fluoride prices has not kept up with the cost growth rate, resulting in a significant increase in the actual operating rate of lithium fluoride. Due to raw material reasons, combined with the basic consumption of hexafluoride inventory in the market, there is a temporary shortage of supply. This Saturday, the price of fluoride increased significantly, and it is expected that the price of hexafluoride will further increase in the future.
In terms of solvents, due to sufficient production capacity and market supply, the solvent market has not significantly improved, and the overall market load is relatively low, with prices basically stable. In terms of additives, market demand has slightly improved, and the price of additives has stopped falling. The market supply and demand are relatively stable.
In the short term, the electrolyte market is gradually improving, and it is expected that the demand growth rate of the electrolyte market will be around 15% in May.
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