[SMM Cobalt Lithium Morning Meeting Minutes] Raw Material Price Divergence Intensifies, Energy Storage Demand Sustains Industry Prosperity
[SMM Cobalt Lithium Morning Meeting Summary: Raw Material Price Divergence Intensifies; Energy Storage Demand Supports Continued Industry Prosperity] This week, the relevant material markets continued to diverge in performance. Upstream ore prices stopped falling and rebounded, but high-price transactions remained constrained. Some ex-China capacities gradually recovered, and market attention shifted from supply disruptions to the pace of new capacity releases. Salt products were supported by maintenance outages, tightening circulation of spot orders, and low inventories, leading to somewhat active spot transactions. However, downstream players still mainly made just-in-time procurement on price dips, and concentrated stockpiling has yet to emerge. The cobalt industry chain remained under pressure overall, with the price centers of refined cobalt, intermediate products, cobalt salts, and cobalt powder shifting downward. Off-season demand, inventory pressure, and low-priced cargoes continued to weigh on the market. Nickel sulphate inventories declined, and cost support strengthened somewhat. Prices of ternary cathode precursors and ternary cathode materials generally remained stable. The LFP, electrolyte, and sodium-ion battery sectors performed relatively strongly, with demand from energy storage, commercial vehicles, and Q3 stockpiling driving production schedules higher. Inventories of some products continued to decline. The anode and separator markets were generally stable. Different raw material varieties in the recycling sector showed divergent performance. The overall industry chain remained in a phase of concurrent demand improvement and cost pass-through.