[Promoting the Research and Production of Sodium-ion Batteries through Sino-French Cooperation]

[SMM Analysis: Hebei's "Lithium-Sodium Hybrid Storage" Deploys in Batches: Sodium-Ion Battery ESS Enters Provincial Verification Period] SMM, September 23: Recently, sodium-ion battery energy storage projects in Hebei have appeared intensively across filing, tendering, winning bid results, and construction commencement stages, making it one of the fastest provinces in China in terms of sodium-ion battery deployment pace on the electricity ESS side. After reviewing the public lists of the Hebei Provincial Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), as well as EPC and equipment tender winning bid results, SMM believes: Hebei is no longer a "policy statement" player, but has placed sodium-ion batteries into the project library of standalone ESS, grid connection timelines, and bidding sections—sodium-ion batteries are moving from demonstration fences into the provincial electricity market, entering a verification period with real money.

A profound transformation in technical routes is unfolding in the sodium-ion battery sector. In the early stages of industry development, layered oxide sodium-ion battery technology, leveraging its theoretical advantage of high energy density and aiming to "replace lithium batteries," became the mainstream direction highly favored across the sodium-ion battery industry chain.

At the beginning of this week, the industry chain remained in the doldrums overall. Refined cobalt prices were temporarily stable, with mainstream smelters maintaining Ex-works prices at 285,000 yuan/mt, but downstream procurement remained mostly just-in-time, and sustained restocking had yet to materialise. Quotes and transactions for intermediate products were scarce, and sales pressure on miners gradually built up. Cobalt sulphate demand was weak, with some recycling enterprises lowering quotes to 57,000–58,000 yuan/mt. Raw material prices and production costs moved down in tandem, and the negative feedback loop in the market continued. Transactions for cobalt chloride and Co3O4 were sluggish, and downstream stockpiling interest ahead of the holiday was insufficient, with demand improvement likely having to wait until November. In the cobalt powder market, downstream purchases continued to be postponed due to high-priced inventory and losses. Ternary cathode precursor prices weakened, and operating rates at some enterprises declined. The decline in ternary cathode material prices slowed, but EV market demand had yet to rebound. The traditional peak season for LCO underperformed expectations, with weakening cost support and sluggish end-user stockpiling, leaving short-term prices still exposed to further downside risk. Going forward, the market will focus on post-holiday procurement recovery, inventory destocking, and actual Q4 orders.