SMM January 29:
Electrolyte prices pulled back this week, with average prices for electrolyte for ternary power batteries, LFP, and LMO at 35,000 yuan/mt, 33,250 yuan/mt, and 26,500 yuan/mt, respectively. Cost side, weak downstream market demand weakened raw material purchase willingness among electrolyte enterprises. Meanwhile, tight supply of key raw materials such as LiPF6, VC, and FEC eased significantly. Multiple factors jointly pushed down related raw material prices. As cost-side pressure gradually released, the effect of raw material price cuts transmitted to the electrolyte product end, leading to lower electrolyte prices following reduced production costs. Demand side, the industry was in the traditional off-season, and demand was overdrawn in advance due to the previous halved vehicle purchase tax policy. NEV sales pulled back significantly recently, leading to an overall reduction in power battery cell production schedules. Although ESS battery cell demand remained stable, overall battery cell production trended downward, ultimately lowering overall electrolyte demand. Supply side, the electrolyte industry continued the production strategy of producing based on sales and scheduling production according to demand. Orders from downstream battery cell manufacturers continued to shrink, directly leading to lower operating rates at electrolyte enterprises, and overall industry production synchronized with a pullback. Considering changes in the supply-demand pattern and cost-side fluctuations, electrolyte prices were expected to pull back in the short term.
SMM New Energy Research Team
Cong Wang 021-51666838
Rui Ma 021-51595780
Disheng Feng 021-51666714
Yanlin Lu 021-20707875
Zhicheng Zhou 021-51666711
Mengqi Xu 021-20707868
Xuejie Hu 021-20707858
Bolin Chen 021-51666836
Yizhou Wang 021-51595909
