German Automobile Industry Association Adjusts the Growth Forecast Due to the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Chilean lithium producer SQM announced that its Q4 net profit increased due to favorable market conditions which raised the average price of lithium and thus boosted performance. The world's second-largest lithium miner stated that its Q4 net profit was $183.8 million up 53% YoY. Revenue for the quarter grew by 23.3% reaching $1.32 billion compared to $1.07 billion in the same period last year. Gross profit for the quarter rose 52.7% to $448.5 million. SQM CEO Ramos said, "Our Q4 2025 results reflect record sales from our two major lithium businesses (Nova Andino Litio and the International Lithium Division)." "In November 2025, we began to see early signs of an improving supply-demand balance primarily driven by stronger-than-expected ESS demand."

On February 28, the construction of the second batch of China's large-scale wind and PV bases in desert-Gobi-wasteland areas, and the country's largest single coal mining subsidence area PV project, the 4 million kW Ningxia Lingwu coal mining subsidence area new energy base, was completed and put into operation, marking the full completion of the 6 million kW Ningxia coal mining subsidence area composite PV base. In addition, the project is equipped with a 600MW/1200MWh ESS, of which 400MW/800MWh has been completed, using grid-forming ESS technology.

[SMM Daily Review: Spot Lithium Carbonate Prices Fluctuate Upward on March 2] SMM's battery-grade lithium carbonate index price edged up compared to the previous working day. In terms of futures movement, the most-traded contract opened and surged to a high of 179,500 yuan/mt before fluctuating and pulling back, breaking below the 170,000 yuan/mt level, and then gradually stabilized and rebounded to consolidate around 172,000 yuan/mt. In the afternoon, prices edged up again, mainly fluctuating around 173,500 yuan/mt until the close. The open interest of the most-traded contract decreased by about 3,200 lots compared to the previous trading day. In terms of actual transactions, upstream lithium chemical plants maintained relatively firm quotes, with a weak willingness to sell spot orders. When futures prices dropped to 170,000 yuan/mt, some downstream material plants showed a slight recovery in purchase willingness, but most participants remained cautious, primarily adopting a wait-and-see approach. Overall, there were signs of a slight recovery in market inquiries and transactions.