SMM April 23 News:
Electrolyte market prices declined this week. Specifically, the average prices of electrolyte for ternary power battery, LFP, and LMO applications were 28,950 yuan/mt, 27,200 yuan/mt, and 21,500 yuan/mt, respectively. Cost side, the comprehensive cost of electrolyte continued to edge down this week. LiPF6 side, supported by continued price increases in upstream raw materials, LiPF6 production costs rose. For enterprises that fully purchase externally for raw materials, current product prices have approached the cost line. Combined with continued destocking in the earlier period and significantly eased inventory pressure, enterprises showed weak willingness to cut prices, and lithium chemicals prices remained stable in the short term. Additive side, affected by concentrated maintenance at multiple facilities, VC industry inventory pulled back notably. Coupled with steady recovery in downstream demand and limited new supply increments, the industry supply-demand pattern tightened, further supporting VC prices to hold temporarily stable at high levels. Solvent side, upstream propylene oxide prices pulled back, and overall solvent supply remained ample, leading to weakening market prices. This dragged down the comprehensive cost of electrolyte and gradually transmitted to the finished product side, driving electrolyte market prices to edge down slightly. Demand side, as the auto show is expected to boost passenger NEV sales to rebound, coupled with steady growth in energy storage demand, overall lithium battery demand is expected to increase further. Supply side, electrolyte enterprises mostly produce based on sales. As demand recovers, industry production is expected to rise in tandem. Overall, given the relatively weak bargaining power of the electrolyte industry, subsequent price trends still need to focus on changes in upstream raw material prices.
SMM New Energy Research Team
Wang Cong 021-51666838
Ma Rui 021-51595780
Feng Disheng 021-51666714
Lv Yanlin 021-20707875
Xu Mengqi 021-20707868
Hu Xuejie 021-20707858
Chen Bolin 021-51666836
Wang Yizhou 021-51595909
