Demand for medium- to high-nickel ternary cathode materials is good [SMM Weekly Review of Ternary Cathode Material Market]

Published: Jun 12, 2025 17:51
This week, the prices of ternary cathode material continued to decline. In terms of raw material costs, the price of cobalt sulphate continued to drop slightly, while the prices of nickel sulphate and manganese sulphate remained stable for the time being. Lithium carbonate rebounded to a certain extent due to macro sentiment, while the price of lithium hydroxide still showed a clear downward trend.

This week, ternary cathode material prices continued their downward trend. Cost side, cobalt sulphate prices dropped slightly, nickel sulphate and manganese sulphate prices remained stable, lithium carbonate rebounded moderately due to macro sentiment, while lithium hydroxide prices still showed a significant downward trend.

NEV market side, June was the traditional off-season for the NEV market, with mediocre auto sales performance. However, some leading battery cell manufacturers demonstrated notable growth in procurement demand for medium-high nickel ternary materials, primarily for two reasons: stockpiling for upcoming new car models and product verification at overseas battery cell manufacturers. Consumer market side, the consumer electronics industry entered inventory destocking phase, with orders and production schedules pulling back, while end-use demand maintained an overall favorable trend. Small power market side, demand in Southeast Asia and India performed well, with relatively active recent orders.

Overall, market transactions showed mediocre performance, with companies closely monitoring the impact of DRC trade policies on raw material price trends. In the short term, ternary cathode material prices are expected to continue their downward trajectory.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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