“Aluminum Plastic Film”- New Blue Ocean of Lithium Battery Industry – Biweekly 009

【China's domestic power battery installation volume in February is 18GWh, CATL holds over 55% market share】Recently, the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance (hereinafter referred to as "Battery Alliance") released the power battery monthly data for February of this year. According to the data, in February, China's power battery installation volume declined both year-over-year and month-over-month. From a corporate perspective, CATL's market share exceeded 55%, with BYD's share close to 18%. Specifically, in February, China's power battery installation volume was 18GWh, a year-over-year decrease of 18.1% and a month-over-month decrease of 44.4%. This is in line with the downward trend in the production and sales of new energy vehicles for the month.

On March 12th, lithium carbonate futures surged 4.13% to 119,850 yuan/ton, and spot prices rose to an average of 110,000 yuan/ton, amid market optimism and supply-demand adjustments.

From January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, individual consumers who scrap or transfer (excluding change of registration) a non-commercial passenger car registered under their name in Shanghai, and purchase a new pure electric passenger car from an automobile sales institution registered with the Shanghai Market Supervision Administration, for non-commercial use, can apply for a one-time subsidy of 10,000 yuan for the purchase of the car.

In recent years, many cell makers have released 4C fast charging products for LFP batteries, which are used in the field of EV. This move will help quickly increase the market share of LFP batteries in the power sector, and also accelerate the penetration of EVs.

In January, the average monthly price of 9990 magnesium ingots in the main producing areas was 20,190 yuan per ton, down 1.2% month-on-month. Looking back at January: At the beginning of the month, bearish sentiment still prevailed in the magnesium market, with prices continuing their downward trend from the previous year, falling to 20,100 yuan per ton, once again approaching the cost margin, leading to an increase in the willingness of magnesium plants to support prices; In mid-Jan, pre-spring-festival stockpiling makes the market price went a bit higher; Now, domestic 9990 magnesium ingots prices reduced to around 20100 again.

Affected by the continued losses in lithium salt companies purchasing lithium ore externally, which triggered to production suspension or reduction, as well as the seasonal maintenance of some lithium salt companies, it is preliminarily estimated that China's lithium carbonate output in February will decline by about 23% month-on-month to around 32,000 mt.

According to SMM, the SMM lithium carbonate battery-grade price index was RMB 95,801/mt on February 2, up RMB 71/mt from the previous working day. The battery-grade lithium carbonate price range was RMB 943,000-998,000/mt, averaging RMB 971,000/mt, unchanged from the previous working day. The industrial-grade lithium carbonate price range was RMB 880,000-910,000/mt, averaging RMB 895,000/mt, unchanged from the previous working day. Although inquiry activity in the market remains active, downstream companies are nearing the end of building long positions ahead of the holiday, and the significant increase in logistics costs before the festival has led to sluggish transactions nearing the Spring Festival, with actual traded volumes lower. The market situation today is relatively calm. Lithium carbonate and industrial grade lithium carbonate prices did not fluctuate due to light trading activity.

Major car makers, including BMW, JLR and Ford, have set their eyes on electric vehicles (EV).

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