Cathode producers face significant profit pressure [SMM Ternary Cathode Material Market Weekly Review]

This week, ternary cathode material prices continued their upward trend. Cost side, nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate prices remained relatively stable, while manganese sulphate saw a slight increase. Lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide prices rose significantly driven by market sentiment, further pushing up the processing costs of ternary materials.

Demand side, domestic ternary EV market demand continued to improve, with leading cathode material enterprises maintaining high operating rates and prioritizing long-term contract supply. Discount coefficients for recently signed spot orders were generally raised. Approaching year-end, some producers began preliminary discussions on next year's long-term contract discounts. Against the backdrop of tight raw material supply and continuously rising costs, although cathode plants have relatively sufficient orders, they still face significant profit pressure.

In terms of demand structure, the robust momentum in the domestic EV market is expected to persist until year-end, while small power and consumer markets performed relatively mediocre. By series, 6-series materials are gradually gaining market share, with their proportion expected to further expand next year; 5-series materials are projected to see a contraction in share due to higher costs.