[LME WEEK] LME to launch Metal contracts for Lithium, Graphite, Manganese and other batteries to seize the opportunity for Electric vehicles

The moves of SHFE and LME have been heading toward different directions recently. As of December 8, LME lead has been falling for five consecutive sessions. SHFE lead, on the other hand, rallied strongly after falling for two days in a row, and rose 1.88% to 15,175 yuan/mt to close the day.

Market focus this week includes the readings of the manufacturing PMI in the Eurozone in November and the Markit manufacturing PMI in the United States in November; the one-year loan market interest rate as of November 22 in China. On the events front, the Federal Reserve FOMC will release the minutes of the monetary policy meeting this Thursday; Bank of England Governor Bailey will deliver a speech this Friday.

With the advancement of the NEV industry, battery technologies has become the highlight in the New Energy Cobalt-Lithium industry, especially the solid-state battery considering its outstanding performance in energy density and safety. 

According to Experian's new car registration data, Tesla will surpass Audi in 2020 and become the fourth largest luxury brand in US, and is gradually approaching the top three BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz.

On November 2, the highly-anticipated Development Plan for the New Energy Vehicle Industry (2021-2035) was unveiled, which was not only a good news for the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry, but also a boost to cobalt demand.

China's installed capacity of batteries to power electric vehicles climbed 29.5% from a month ago to 3.6GWh in April, following a surge of 363.2% in the month of March, showed data from the China Automobile Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance, suggesting the country’s EV sector continues to recover from the fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Nickel stocks across LME-approved warehouses gained 2,874 mt on Monday to 69,180 mt

With investment of 68 billion yuan, the battery base started construction in Hangzhou on Mar 25

Top 5 producers: BAK Battery, Lishen Battery, Guoxuan High-Tech, Zhuhai Yinlong and Far East First New Energy

Samsung-ARN began the construction of the phase Ⅱ of its automotive battery project in Xi'an on Nov 29