News

L&F announced that it will accelerate mid- to long-term growth through a dual-track strategy focusing on NCM (nickel-cobalt-manganese) and LFP (lithium iron phosphate) cathode materials. In the NCM segment, the company plans to expand shipments of 46-series batteries and strengthen its presence in North America, leveraging its exclusive supply position for ultra-high nickel NCMA95, which recorded its highest-ever sales volume. It also aims to drive both volume growth and profitability improvements through higher utilization rates. In the LFP business, L&F will expand applications beyond energy storage systems (ESS) into electric vehicles and AI data centers, while reinforcing its long-term growth foundation through capacity expansion based on secured demand from multiple customers.

On March 25, Capchem disclosed that in 2025, the company achieved operating revenue of 9.639 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.84%; and realized net profit attributable to the parent of 1.097 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.48%. In terms of customers, it has been onboarded by several leading domestic and international battery manufacturers, with some achieving hundred-ton-level procurement for semi-solid-state battery research, development, and small-batch production. The company believes that in the coming period, solid-state batteries will primarily focus on niche application scenarios requiring high energy density and low cycle life, with a relatively limited market scale.

On March 25, the commissioning ceremony for the waste battery material recycling project of Guangzhou Youmei Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. was held in Baiyun, Guangzhou. As Guangzhou's first waste battery material recycling project, its commencement of production will provide a stable supply of recycled resources for the new energy industry in South China and across the nation. It also represents a crucial step for GAC Group in perfecting its green industry chain and responding to the national "dual carbon" strategy.

On the 25th, it was confirmed that the South Korean government will exempt tariffs of 3–8% on critical minerals such as lithium, graphite, and rare earth elements when domestically owned companies directly produce and import them from overseas. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has pre-announced a new regulation outlining tariff exemptions for overseas resource development projects. Under the policy, a total of 14 critical minerals—including lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, zinc, and rare earth elements such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, terbium, dysprosium, yttrium, and scandium—will be eligible for duty exemption when brought into the country. The regulation is set to take effect on April 3.

Dongwon Group has built a large-scale battery manufacturing facility in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. The investment totals $80 million (approximately KRW 120 billion). On Mar. 25 (local time), the Baja California state government and the Secretariat of Economic Innovation (SEI) officially announced the successful attraction of new Korean investment, stating that Mexicali is emerging as a key hub for high value-added industries.

[SMM Lithium Battery Electrolyte Market Weekly Review: Electrolyte Prices Remained Temporarily Stable This Week (2026.3.23-3.26)] From March 23 to March 26, 2026, electrolyte prices remained temporarily stable. Subsequent price trends will still need to focus on changes in upstream raw material prices

The plan proposes that by 2028, the capacity and shipments of products across the entire AI server industry chain will achieve leapfrog growth, and the global market share of products in key areas such as core chips, memory, printed circuit boards (PCBs), power supply and energy storage, optical modules, and passive components will increase significantly; breakthroughs will be achieved in core chips and key products, a group of “specialized, sophisticated, distinctive, and innovative” enterprises and “single-product champion” enterprises with strong technological capabilities and significant market advantages will be cultivated in a tiered manner, and an industrial echelon featuring the coordinated development of large, medium-sized, and small enterprises will take shape.

This week solid-state battery material prices showed structural divergence: sulphide-route LPSC and lithium sulphide prices declined, while oxides remained stable. On the industrial side, the Taiblue–Yadea two-wheeler semi-solid-state battery achieved commercial rollout; BTR’s solid electrolyte orders surged; and WELION New Energy’s 2 billion yuan project was sited in Huadu, Guangzhou. Upstream price cuts resonated with downstream deployment, accelerating the commercialisation process.

Although domestic NEV sales have fallen short of expectations, seasonal recovery combined with overseas export rush demand has driven a notable rebound in domestic EV market orders during March.

The royalty claims of Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler are holding up a $9 billion acquisition bid by the U.S.-backed Orion Critical Minerals Consortium for Glencore’s copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Gertler has been under U.S. Treasury sanctions since 2017. He obtained mining interests years ago through his ties to the former president of the DRC and still retains royalty entitlements from the two mines today. Although Glencore reached a settlement with him in 2018 and switched to euro payments to avoid violating U.S. sanctions, the underlying interests have remained unresolved. For bidders backed by U.S. government capital, indirect links to a sanctioned individual pose compliance and reputational risks, which have stalled the progress of the deal.

Recently, the official account of Shaanxi Construction No. 7 Construction Group announced that Phase I of the 200 MW/301.75 MWh hybrid frequency regulation ESS power station project in the Yuncheng Economic and Technological Development Zone, Shanxi, which it undertook, was successfully connected to the grid and officially entered the trial operation stage. The project mainly includes the construction of a 50 MW flywheel independent frequency regulation ESS, a 150 MW LFP electrochemical ESS, a 220 kV substation, and supporting facilities, adopting a hybrid model of “flywheel energy storage + LFP electrochemical energy storage.”

Recently, the PV+ESS integration project of Xuzhou Sinoma Cement Co., Ltd., invested in and built by Sinoma Overseas, successfully achieved a breakthrough at a key period and was officially energized and put into operation on March 16, 2026, marking the formal commissioning of this regional integrated demonstration project for “hybrid energy storage + PV.” The project deeply integrated PV power generation and hybrid energy storage technologies to establish a clean energy supply system featuring “self-generation for self-use, flexible regulation, safety, and high efficiency.” The project’s total ESS installations capacity reached 10 MW/20 MWh, with total PV capacity of 11.38 MW, forming a complete green energy chain of “PV power generation + hybrid energy storage,” providing continuous and stable power support for production processes, building a closed-loop smart energy system with deep integration across the power generation side, energy storage side, and power consumption side, and realizing intelligent coordination and optimized operation throughout the entire life cycle of energy production, storage, consumption, and regulation.