Ternary Cathode Enterprises Under Pressure from Both Ends [SMM Ternary Cathode Material Market Weekly Review]

This week, ternary cathode material prices continued to rise. Cost side, lithium carbonate ended its pullback phase and turned to a slight increase this week; although lithium hydroxide remained in a downward trend, the decline narrowed. Nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate continued to rise sharply, providing a significant boost to ternary cathode material prices. Although cathode plants currently have relatively good orders, they still face considerable cost pressure. Due to uncertainty about future raw material prices, cathode enterprises generally maintained a cautious approach to procurement.

The continued tight supply of nickel sulphate, expected changes in cobalt export policies in the DRC, and unclear follow-up adjustments to domestic lithium ore mining policies have collectively increased uncertainty in ternary cathode material price trends. At the same time, downstream battery cell manufacturers have limited acceptance of the rapidly rising prices of nickel and cobalt raw materials, and the transmission of these costs is slow, leaving cathode enterprises in a difficult situation under pressure from both ends.

Demand side, orders from some enterprises in the domestic EV market declined slightly in September but remained at a relatively high level for the year. In addition, pre-holiday stockpiling ahead of the National Day holiday continued to provide some support to production pace this week and the next. Overall demand is expected to gradually pull back after October.