Toyota and China Minmetals Reach Cooperation on Battery Recycling

【China's domestic power battery installation volume in February is 18GWh, CATL holds over 55% market share】Recently, the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance (hereinafter referred to as "Battery Alliance") released the power battery monthly data for February of this year. According to the data, in February, China's power battery installation volume declined both year-over-year and month-over-month. From a corporate perspective, CATL's market share exceeded 55%, with BYD's share close to 18%. Specifically, in February, China's power battery installation volume was 18GWh, a year-over-year decrease of 18.1% and a month-over-month decrease of 44.4%. This is in line with the downward trend in the production and sales of new energy vehicles for the month.

On March 12th, lithium carbonate futures surged 4.13% to 119,850 yuan/ton, and spot prices rose to an average of 110,000 yuan/ton, amid market optimism and supply-demand adjustments.

On March 11th, lithium carbonate futures surged 3.28% to 116,400 yuan/ton, and spot prices rose to an average of 109,250 yuan/ton, amidst cautious market optimism.

On March 8th, lithium carbonate futures fell by 0.70% to 113,350 yuan/ton, while spot prices slightly increased to an average of 108,900 yuan/ton, amid ongoing market adjustments.

【SMM Cobalt-Lithium Morning Meeting Summary: Lithium Carbonate Prices Rose Overall on Monday. On the supply side, some lithium salt companies were still in the early stages of resuming production after maintenance, resulting in relatively limited supplies available for spot sales beyond long-term contract orders. Some lithium salt companies have intentions for subsequent deliveries, but overall, lithium salt companies continue to sell long-term contract orders while pricing spot orders firmly. Their spot prices continue to rise. However, downstream companies like cathode material producers have given feedback that due to the recent continuous increase in lithium carbonate prices, while the pricing transmission of their products lags behind the lithium carbonate price hikes, the current pricing transmission situation makes it difficult to fully pass on the increased raw material costs to downstream customers, gradually squeezing production profits...】

On March 6th, lithium carbonate futures fell by 1.17% to 114,000 yuan/ton, while spot prices remained stable at an average of 107,500 yuan/ton amidst market steadiness.

From January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, individual consumers who scrap or transfer (excluding change of registration) a non-commercial passenger car registered under their name in Shanghai, and purchase a new pure electric passenger car from an automobile sales institution registered with the Shanghai Market Supervision Administration, for non-commercial use, can apply for a one-time subsidy of 10,000 yuan for the purchase of the car.

In recent years, many cell makers have released 4C fast charging products for LFP batteries, which are used in the field of EV. This move will help quickly increase the market share of LFP batteries in the power sector, and also accelerate the penetration of EVs.

SMM Analysis presents a detailed cost breakdown of 280Ah lithium iron phosphate energy storage cells, showing a stable cost trend and an industry shift towards higher capacity 300Ah+ cells for cost efficiency.

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