The September-October peak season has arrived. The production of power battery cells in October is expected to be up 6% MoM.

【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 the morning of March 11, the 200MW/400MWh grid-side energy storage project in Wuyi County, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province officially started, which is also the largest grid-side independent energy storage project in Zhejiang Province, which is currently the largest grid-side independent energy storage project in Zhejiang Province, which was signed by Wuyi County, Jinhua City and Sunwoda Smart Energy, with a total planned investment of 800 million yuan. According to Shenzhen Sunwoda Smart Energy Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Sunwoda Smart Energy), on the morning of March 11, the 200MW/400MWh grid-side energy storage project in Wuyi County, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province officially started, which is also the largest grid-side independent energy storage project in Zhejiang Province. The project was signed by Wuyi County, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province and Sunwoda Smart Energy, with a planned total investment of 800 million yuan, and the project will be connected to the grid before June 30, 2024 according to the construction target.

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.

The European Commission has approved a €350 million (US$380 million) plan to support strategic industrial equipment for Portugal's domestic net-zero economy, including the manufacturing of solar panels in the country, as well as the production of wind turbines, batteries, heat pumps, electrolyzers, and storage equipment. This aid will be provided in the form of direct grants, with an effective period until December 31, 2025. The Commission clarified that after this date, regular state aid rules will continue to apply.

On the afternoon of March 4th, the Jinan Municipal Government Information Office held the first session of the themed press conference titled "Vigorously Deepening Project Construction and Promoting High-Quality Development in an All-Round Way", where they introduced relevant information regarding the deepening of project service guarantee to promote green, low-carbon, and high-quality development.

On March 3rd, National People's Congress deputy, Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tongwei Group, Liu Hanyuan stated that at this year's Two Sessions, he will put forward suggestions related to the construction of a comprehensive energy storage system, which mainly includes pumped hydroelectric energy storage and new types of energy storage, with electric vehicle and other various forms of energy storage as supplementary, to promote the process towards a low-carbon China.

SMM News on February 22: During the Spring Festival holiday, many downstream battery companies had holiday arrangements and the demand for anodes was weak with less procurement. In addition, factors like logistics suspensions affected the market, and there was very limited trading of anode materials during the holiday...

Affected by the continued losses in lithium salt companies purchasing lithium ore externally, which triggered to production suspension or reduction, as well as the seasonal maintenance of some lithium salt companies, it is preliminarily estimated that China's lithium carbonate output in February will decline by about 23% month-on-month to around 32,000 mt.

[SMM Analysis] Overview of Electrolyte Companies' Holiday Schedule, with most of the time concentrated on statutory holidays.

According to SMM, the SMM lithium carbonate battery-grade price index was RMB 95,801/mt on February 2, up RMB 71/mt from the previous working day. The battery-grade lithium carbonate price range was RMB 943,000-998,000/mt, averaging RMB 971,000/mt, unchanged from the previous working day. The industrial-grade lithium carbonate price range was RMB 880,000-910,000/mt, averaging RMB 895,000/mt, unchanged from the previous working day. Although inquiry activity in the market remains active, downstream companies are nearing the end of building long positions ahead of the holiday, and the significant increase in logistics costs before the festival has led to sluggish transactions nearing the Spring Festival, with actual traded volumes lower. The market situation today is relatively calm. Lithium carbonate and industrial grade lithium carbonate prices did not fluctuate due to light trading activity.