CATL will further strengthen its cooperation with Mercedes-Benz in the field of battery technology to support the large-scale electrification of Mercedes-Benz models.

In this three part webinar series, our analysts will share their views on the trending topics across the China domestic ferrous, non-ferrous and new energy sectors during this unprecedented period.

As the situation of COVID-19 eases in China, SMM is pleased to welcome back our industry participants to the metals conferences, where we gather and share insights on the nonferrous metal industry.

China’s imports of cobalt raw materials are expected to fall 4% year on year to 86,000 mt in metal content in 2020, said Huo Yuan, cobalt senior analyst at SMM, citing coronavirus-induced uncertainty around raw materials supply from Africa and reduced supply after Glencore placed its Mutanda mine in the Congo on two-year care and maintenance.

China’s primary nickel market will be in a wide surplus this year, as the coronavirus crisis takes its toll and given the aggressive nickel pig iron (NPI) capacity expansion in Indonesia, said Rachel Liu, senior nickel analyst at SMM.

China's new energy vehicle (NEV)  industry  is currently facing tough challenges as it enters a “painful period” after being affected by the decline of the NEV subsidy policy in 2019 and COVID-19. The development of the NEV industry remains as a focus of the Chinese government after the "two sessions” annual meetings chaired by the National People’s Congress (NPC). Various regions in China have introduced stimulus policies on the NEV market. 

This followed the wholesale deliveries of new energy passenger cars nearly quadrupled from a month ago to 56,000 units in March, as the business recovered from the fallout from the coronavirus crisis. 

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. 

COVID-19 impact further delayed resumption of cobalt and lithium industry chain

In February, SMM will be hosting a 4-session special webinar series on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on Wednesdays and Fridays, 5pm CST.