Chile’s Farellon Copper-Gold-Cobalt Project Completes First Ore Delivery, Launching Small-Scale Production

The lithium battery industry chain continued its divergent trend this week. High-grade spot lithium ore available in the market and near-month shipments remained tight, with high-priced auctions and trader stockpiling reinforcing support at the mining end. Spot lithium carbonate rose before pulling back, with the 2701 contract retreating from above 160,000 yuan/mt to around 150,000 yuan/mt. September supply is expected to rise about 11% MoM, with downstream dip-buying active but chasing highs cautiously. Lithium hydroxide trading was thin, with prices in a stalemate near 142,000 yuan/mt. Nickel salts and ternary cathode precursor prices were under pressure, and China's ternary cathode material production schedule for September was revised down, though overseas high-nickel orders remained robust. LFP was supported by rising raw material costs and strong orders, with the average price rising to 58,355 yuan/mt; iron phosphate continued to edge up. Anode and separator supply was tight, with costs and peak-season production schedules providing support; electrolyte prices edged up on higher solvent and other costs. Sodium-ion battery cathode was in undersupply, while hard carbon saw higher volumes and lower prices. The industry chain as a whole has entered a phase of gaming between peak-season demand realization and new capacity release.

This week, the industry chain continued to consolidate on a weak note, with clear divergence between supply and demand. On the upstream side, raw material suppliers remained firm in holding prices, while downstream buyers continued to push for lower prices, widening the psychological price spread between buyers and sellers and making spot transactions difficult to advance. Some salt products came under pressure due to lower raw material costs, low-price selling by traders, and weak demand, with a few varieties already pulling back slightly. The price center of powder materials continued to shift lower, with weakening cost support, and the market remained in a bottoming phase. Midstream materials showed divergent performance: some precursors were dragged down by weaker nickel salts, with order coefficients under pressure and domestic production schedules subdued, though overseas high-nickel orders remained relatively stable. Cathode materials were affected by raw material price fluctuations and downward revisions in end-use orders, prompting battery cell manufacturers to restock cautiously, with domestic production schedules in September expected to decline. On the consumption side, the September-October peak season effect has yet to materialize clearly, with end-use demand recovery in mobile phones and other terminals remaining limited, and the industry chain overall dominated by just-in-time procurement and destocking. In the short term, the market lacks clear upward drivers, and prices are likely to continue consolidating on a subdued note. Going forward, the focus will be on the strength of September restocking, improvements in end-use orders, and changes in upstream pricing strategies.

On the last day of August 2026, SK On announced that it had signed a five-year supply contract for LFP pouch battery cells with US energy storage enterprise NeoVolta Power, with a total supply of 9 GWh, and an additional 9 GWh order may be added within the year, at which point the total scale of cooperation between the two parties is expected to expand to 18 GWh. Almost simultaneously, Samsung SDI was reported to be about to finalise a three-year LFP battery cell supply agreement with an ESS integrator, worth several trillion won, with an annual supply of several GWh.