China’s Lithium Hydroxide Output Poised To Recover Further In June With Market Betting On Demand Recovery For High-Nickel Ternary Materials

[CATL Hungary Plant Starts Trial Production at New Battery Cell Facility] On September 22, CATL commenced trial production at its newly built battery cell plant in Debrecen, Hungary, having completed all prerequisite conditions required for the start of trial production. According to reports, this trial production is aimed at debugging, optimizing, and validating production equipment and manufacturing processes, in preparation for subsequent full-scale mass production. It is reported that in August 2022, CATL announced the construction of its second battery plant in Europe in Debrecen, Hungary, where the first battery cell facility began construction in the summer of 2023 and completed the installation of advanced production technologies and equipment by the spring of 2026. In August 2026, after obtaining the facility use permit, the company successively completed the prerequisite conditions required by relevant permits and IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) permit requirements, and officially commenced trial production of the first two production lines at the first battery cell production facility on September 22.

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.