[SMM Separator Weekly Review] Prices remained stable overall this week.

The separator market remained largely stable this week. In terms of specific quotations, high-end wet-process separator prices held firm: 5μm (5μ+2μ) was quoted at 1.57-1.87 yuan/m², 7μm (7μ+2μ) mainstream quotations were 1.14-1.337 yuan/m², and 9μm (9μ+3μ) was quoted at 1.135-1.29 yuan/m². Supply side, newly added capacity in July was still driven mainly by upgrading existing production lines, leading to a slow growth pace. Top-tier players had accepted current quotation levels, and overall prices were expected to remain stable in July. However, divergence emerged across different products: base film prices saw limited gains, mainly because second- and third-tier enterprises maintained a relatively competitive pricing strategy; prices for coated products were relatively firm due to tight supply-demand conditions. From a supply-demand fundamental perspective, the separator market was still in a state of undersupply. End-use production schedules in July grew approximately 7% MoM, with both the EV and ESS sectors staying highly buoyant. Driven by this, separator production in July rose 3.71% MoM, but the production growth rate still lagged end-use demand growth, keeping a supply-demand gap in place. The industry’s overall operating rate stayed above 80%. Battery cell enterprises not only locked in mainstream separator capacity, but some long-term supply agreements further extended to second- and third-tier separator enterprises, pushing the industry’s overall capacity utilization rate to stay high. After a previous round of price adjustments took effect, the market entered a new price-implementation phase. Separator prices are expected to stay largely stable in the short term; the subsequent trend will depend on the pace of new capacity release and downstream acceptance of price increases.

SMM New Energy Research Department

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lyu Yanlin 021-20707875

Zhang Haohan 021-51666752

Wang Zihan 021-51666914

Wang Jie 021-51595902

Xu Yang 021-51666760

Chen Bolin 021-51666836

Yang Le 021-51595898

Li Yisha 021-51666730