Prices of Raw Materials for Lithium Battery under Supervision, Actions Can Be Expected

SHANGHAI, Mar 23 - For the current raw material price boom, Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, pointed out that: Firstly, the current round of raw material price hike has been irrational, departing from the normal supply and demand relationship. And there are speculation parties to seize the last window period before the expansion of lithium production capacity, with activities like hoarding, deliberate price gouging and unfair competition. Upstream enterprises’ pricing should return to rationality, and car companies also need to stay calm.

Secondly, the inflation of prices of raw materials for power batteries is extremely destructive to the new energy vehicle industry, which has been cultivated through more than a decade of efforts and is in a period of subsidy withdrawal and gear shifting. Irrational price hikes would affect the stable and healthy development of new energy vehicles, a national strategic emerging industry, and even impact the current "double cycle" economic pattern under construction, which runs counter to the national development strategy.

Thirdly, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has included raw material price hikes into its monitoring horizon since the second half of 2021, and has recently stepped up its actions and submitted proposals to the relevant authorities as a response. The national authorities have made it clear that they will be resolute in combating this unfair competition.