SMM December 18 News:
Electrolyte market prices held steady this week, with the average prices for ternary, LFP, and LMO electrolytes at 36,750 yuan/mt, 35,250 yuan/mt, and 28,250 yuan/mt, respectively. Cost side, although the prices of key raw materials such as LiPF6, VC, and FEC remained high, electrolyte enterprises faced a lag in cost pass-through and downstream enterprises' reluctance to accept high raw material prices, leaving some orders under pressure of losses. Against this backdrop, electrolyte enterprises significantly scaled back their raw material purchase willingness, continuously weakening the support for the rise in raw material prices. Meanwhile, some traders sold materials at low prices, leading to low-priced transactions in the market, further curbing the upward momentum of electrolyte prices and keeping them stable in the short term. Demand side, battery cell enterprises maintained a steady production pace this month, with output levels remaining high and no significant reductions, providing strong support for the demand of electrolytes and their upstream raw materials. Supply side, although the difficulty in passing costs downstream dampened the production enthusiasm of some electrolyte enterprises, the industry overall continued to operate under the "produce based on sales" model. Considering the supply-demand pattern and cost-side pressures, electrolyte prices are expected to remain stable in the short term.
SMM New Energy Research Team
Wang Cong 021-51666838
Ma Rui 021-51595780
Feng Disheng 021-51666714
Lü Yanlin 021-20707875
Zhou Zhicheng 021-51666711
Xu Mengqi 021-20707868
Hu Xuejie 021-20707858
Chen Bolin 021-51666836
Wang Yizhou 021-51595909
