Ternary cathode material prices continued to rise sharply this week. Cost side, nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate prices rose significantly, manganese sulphate prices followed with a slight increase, while lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide prices dropped back slightly. Notably, cobalt sulphate prices surged recently, driving up 5-series NCM prices rapidly, with some product quotes exceeding those of high-nickel models. Affected by sharp raw material price fluctuations, some producers suspended external quotations this week. Currently, the discount coefficients for nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate in the spot order market have been raised significantly, while long-term agreement order discounts remained largely unchanged. Raw material price fluctuations are expected to narrow next week, and market trading sentiment is expected to gradually recover.
Demand side, the domestic EV market maintained its traditional peak season performance, coupled with expectations that some subsidy policies will phase out next year, which may lead to a concentrated release of orders towards year-end, providing sustained support for material demand. Consumer electronics market demand remained generally stable. Due to increasing cost pressure on 5-series materials, some producers are gradually shifting to 6-series material solutions; meanwhile, there is also a trend of switching from LCO to ternary cathode materials in some application scenarios. Medium-to-high nickel materials are expected to further increase their market share in the future, leveraging their comprehensive cost advantages. Overseas market side, after the quarter-end sales push in Q3, overall Q4 demand pulled back, but orders from some popular car model brands continued to provide stable support for their corresponding cathode material suppliers.
