[Na-ion: Xibei Power's 250M-yuan sodium-ion battery base lands in Zigong, Sichuan]

[Solid-state battery: Tianneng Battery achieves large-scale delivery of semi-solid-state 314Ah battery cells, with multi-technology systems making breakthroughs in stages] On 28 August 2026, Tianneng Battery disclosed in its H1 2026 semi-annual report that the semi-solid-state 314Ah battery cells produced in cooperation with WELION New Energy have achieved large-scale batch delivery and have been successfully applied first to grid-side ESS equipment. The company has laid out multiple new-type battery technology routes, including solid-state batteries, sodium-ion batteries and hydrogen fuel cells, and its "lithium-lithium-hydrogen-sodium + solid-state" multi-technology system is accelerating its formation, with the industrialisation process showing a staged progression of "sodium-ion battery demonstration and verification, solid-state battery deployment in multiple scenarios, and accelerated commercialisation of hydrogen fuel". The company's lithium battery business has significantly accelerated its push to go global, with residential ESS outside China as a key breakthrough direction. For specific H1 financial data, please refer to the full report. Semi-solid-state battery: solid-liquid battery.

The industry chain remained in a weak bargaining phase this week, with upstream players holding prices firm while downstream buyers pushed for lower prices. Overseas miners acquired low-priced intermediate products, providing some support to the price floor, but the psychological price gap between buyers and sellers remained wide, limiting actual transactions. The sulphate market came under pressure from low-priced deals outside China and lower costs, with downstream purchase willingness subdued as the market awaited the release of stockpiling demand during the September-October peak season. The powder market also consolidated at lows, with downstream cemented carbide orders weak and spot transactions sluggish. Ternary cathode precursors continued to weaken under soft raw material prices and pressure on order coefficients, while top-tier producers saw relatively better export orders. Ternary cathode materials staged a phased rebound as lithium chemical prices recovered, but domestic power demand was weaker than expected, leaving subsequent production schedules facing downward pressure. The supply-demand pattern for LCO showed limited improvement, with peak season effects yet to materialize clearly. On the policy front, measures to support automobile consumption continued to advance, which is expected to provide some support for end-use demand, but a genuine stabilization of the industry chain still hinges on downstream concentrated procurement and an improvement in actual demand.

This week, the industry chain as a whole exhibited an operating pattern of “upstream consolidation, divergent performance in materials, and improving demand expectations.” Lithium ore prices continued to consolidate at highs, with miners still holding prices firm, but smelting margins were squeezed, and salt producers’ procurement gradually returned to rigid demand; lithium carbonate pulled back after shooting up, with supply growth driven by salt lake production resumptions, while downstream stockpiling on dips provided support for prices. The cobalt market was generally weak, with a wide price spread between buying and selling prices for intermediate products; cobalt sulphate and cobalt powder prices remained under pressure, and actual transactions were still sluggish. Materials showed divergent performance: ternary cathode material prices weakened as raw materials pulled back, while LFP continued to rise on higher costs and robust orders, with industry supply still tight. Anode prices held steady, separators stayed rangebound, and electrolyte costs moved higher, driven by price increases in LiPF6, additives, and solvents. As the “September-October peak season” approaches, stockpiling and production schedule expectations improved in certain segments, but the market still needs to watch raw material price fluctuations, capacity releases, and the fulfilment of end-user orders.