Central Government to Support Development of Sodium-ion Batteries

On 28 September, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and six other departments jointly issued the "15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the New-type Battery Industry". This is China's first national-level special plan for the battery sector and the first time sodium-ion batteries have been written into a top-level national design for the battery industry.

At the beginning of this week, prices across the industry chain remained weak. After refined cobalt futures fell, traders raised their spot-futures price spread quotes, but downstream buyers continued to purchase only on a need-to basis. In the intermediate product market, there were almost no inquiries or transactions, with holders indicating prices above $17/lb while some buyers would only accept below $13/lb, widening the divergence. Cobalt sulphate, cobalt chloride, and Co3O4 prices continued to pull back, with downstream procurement subdued and lower raw material costs weakening price support. Cobalt powder enterprises also lowered their quotes, and high-priced inventory delayed restocking by cemented carbide enterprises. Ternary cathode precursors saw production schedules trend lower due to weaker nickel and cobalt salt prices and insufficient demand for some orders. Ternary cathode material prices fell along with raw materials, and cathode plants mainly consumed existing inventory. LCO demand showed no seasonal boost, and prices remained at risk of further weakness. Overall, pre-holiday stockpiling was limited, and the market is waiting for inventory digestion and demand improvement.

The newly built production line will enable large-scale manufacturing of 32140-series sodium-ion battery cells, continuously iterate and optimize cell performance, and drive sodium-ion batteries from small-batch sampling to large-scale commercial application, providing the market with cost-effective energy storage and power battery solutions beyond lithium batteries.