[SMM ESS Battery Cell Market Weekly Review 5.29] US Reciprocal Tariff Reduction Drives Marginal Improvement in Exports

This week, the ESS battery cell market entered an adjustment phase following the policy turning point. Domestically, ESS has entered the final stage of the "531" grid connection period, with the gradual completion of projects delivered in the early stage. Market demand has pulled back temporarily, and the price center of mainstream capacity segment products has slowly declined. In terms of exports, in mid-May, the US announced a temporary reduction in reciprocal tariffs on some battery products exported from China, sending a positive signal to the ESS battery cell market. Although actual shipments still face challenges related to contract fulfillment and customer price verification cycles, market sentiment has significantly improved. Against the backdrop of the end-use demand in Europe and the US not yet surging, this tariff adjustment has opened a window for the subsequent recovery of exports. In the small-scale ESS sector, the demand for household ESS continues to rise, with supply and demand for 50Ah segment products remaining tight and price trends relatively firm. However, the volume is still not enough to drive an overall market reversal. Overall, ESS battery cell prices remain under short-term pressure, but the marginal improvement in overseas exports provides a hedge. Whether prices can stabilize in the future will depend on the pace of export realization in North America and the actual progress of demand release in the domestic industrial and commercial ESS sector.

SMM New Energy Industry Research Department

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lv Yanlin 021-20707875

Zhou Zhicheng 021-51666711

Zhang Haohan 021-51666752

Wang Zihan 021-51666914

Wang Jie 021-51595902

Xu Yang 021-51666760

Chen Bolin 021-51666836

Yang Le 021-51595898