Output of ternary precursors rise 5.9% in Oct

Prices of ternary materials and precursors in China will see further downside risk before May as inventories continued to pile up, driven by slowed or delayed purchases by downstream producers of power batteries amid falling orders. 

China's production of ternary precursor, which is used to produce ternary materials for power and digital batteries, rebounded 66.4% from a month ago due to the recovery of operations and logistics after the effective containment of COVID-19 in China.

Primary lead output in China expanded significantly last month, as some large smelters recovered from maintenance and small and medium-sized smelters reopened after the spread of the coronavirus in the country came under control. China’s output of primary lead increased 11.94% from February to 240,000 mt in March, to produce a year-over-year decline of 7.03%. Output in the first three months of 2020 was 6.13% lower than the same period the year before.

But upside room in share of high-Ni ternary materials will be capped as 5- and 6-series materials continue to dominate

Demand for Li-ion batteries is expected to reach 8.75 GWh in 2019

A shorter month, output cuts for some regular specifications accounted for the month-on-month decline in Feb

Daily output of crude steel across China Iron and Steel Association member mills averaged 1.92 million mt during Feb 1-10

Sluggish consumption from the digital market will also weigh on output

Output stood at 63.73 million mt in Nov, up 16.1% from Nov 2017, but down 5.9% month on month

China produced 18.57 million mt of rebar in Nov, down 2.9% from Oct but up 10.14% from Nov 2017