[SMM Cobalt-Lithium Morning Meeting Minutes] Raw Materials Consolidate at Highs with Divergence; Expectations for the Materials Peak Season Gradually Heat Up

Lithium Ore:

This week, the lithium ore market generally consolidated at highs. Quotes from the ore side remained relatively firm, but acceptance of high-priced resources began to diverge between upstream and downstream. Fundamentals, disruptions on China’s lithium carbonate supply side continued. Maintenance at some lithium chemical plants, coupled with a phased pullback in salt lake production, kept market expectations for short-term lithium chemical supply biased tight and continued to support ore prices. Meanwhile, after the earlier rise in lithium prices, mines’ willingness to hold prices firm increased markedly, and low-priced, available spodumene concentrates remained limited. However, as ore prices stayed high, smelting margins for externally purchased spodumene were further squeezed. Lithium chemical plants’ willingness to rush to buy amid continuous price rise for high-priced ore declined, and procurement gradually returned to just-in-time procurement, intensifying the price tug-of-war between buyers and sellers. The core contradiction in current ore prices has gradually shifted from the earlier “tight supply driving the rise” to “whether high ore prices can be continuously absorbed by smelting margins.” Lithium ore prices were expected to remain strongly supported in the short term, but further upside required lithium carbonate prices and actual transactions to move in tandem. If lithium chemical prices consolidated at highs while smelting margins continued to compress, upside room for ore prices might be gradually constrained.

Lithium Carbonate:

This week, the spot lithium carbonate price showed a retreat after rapid rise and an overall drift lower. Volatility intensifies in the futures market. The most-traded 2701 contract’s price range swung sharply lower from 161,500-162,500 yuan/mt at the start of the week to 148,300-154,900 yuan/mt. After hitting an intraday high of 162,500 yuan/mt mid-week, it continued to pull back, with a low of 148,300 yuan/mt. The weekly amplitude was about 8.7%. Open interest fell first and then rose, with an intense tug-of-war between longs and shorts. Market transactions showed the pattern of “retreat after rapid rise, active on declines.” Upstream lithium chemical plants: among enterprises not under maintenance, willingness to sell spot orders increased significantly when prices broke above recent highs; approaching month-end, willingness to sell spot orders slowed down somewhat, with some preparing for shipments under long-term contracts; enterprises under maintenance still mainly ensured supply via long-term contracts. Downstream material plants: approaching month-end, they actively stockpiled for next month’s production. Below 150,000 yuan/mt, enthusiasm was relatively high for pricing later to close positions and for just-in-time stockpiling; however, after prices shot up, willingness to chase higher prices was insufficient. Overall, inquiries and actual transactions remained relatively active. Supply-side production recovered somewhat, as salt lake maintenance ended and production gradually resumed. This week, China’s lithium carbonate supply recovered somewhat, mainly because maintenance ended at some salt lake lithium chemical plants and production gradually resumed; other raw material segments maintained normal production. From the perspective of inventory changes: upstream lithium chemical plants not under maintenance, driven by a consolidating rise in prices, gradually strengthened their willingness to sell spot orders; enterprises in maintenance periods still mainly supplied under long-term contracts, with inventory continuing to be drawn down; downstream material plants continued to make just-in-time procurement on dips, with some already beginning to stockpile for September, but they had concerns about next month’s price trend and were relatively cautious in stockpiling; traders, alongside upstream spot shipments and downstream restocking for just-in-time needs, saw overall inventory in a destocking trend. This week’s price fluctuations were driven by multiple factors: first, repeated shifts in supply-side expectations. Early in the week, slower-than-expected progress in production resumptions at Jiangxi mines pushed prices sharply higher; subsequently, improved expectations for resumptions, coupled with weaker macro sentiment, led to a rapid pullback in prices. Second, as month-end approached, downstream players stockpiled for next month’s production, boosting purchase willingness for spot orders and providing phased support to prices. Third, from a macro perspective, a broad decline in risk appetite exerted pressure on lithium prices. Looking ahead, in the short term, lithium carbonate prices are expected to remain relatively strong. On the supply side, the completion of maintenance at salt lakes and gradual production resumptions brought marginal growth, but the pace of resumptions at Jiangxi mines remained the key variable. On the demand side, downstream stocking demand for September supported prices, but stockpiling was relatively cautious, with insufficient momentum to chase higher prices. The sharp narrowing of spot discounts and active purchases by downstream buyers below 150,000 yuan/mt provided bottom support for prices. Going forward, key focuses remain the actual progress of production resumptions at Jiangxi mines, changes in the pace of downstream September stockpiling, when warrants will be digested, and September production schedules.

Lithium Hydroxide:

This week, lithium hydroxide prices fell first and then rose, overall moving sideways within a range.Upstream producers continued to hold prices firm, keeping offers at the high level of 145,000-155,000 yuan/mt, with some transactions recorded during the week; downstream saw sporadic inquiries, but willingness to transact on spot orders was average, and the market was generally in wait-and-see mode. Quotes in the trading segment were basically in the 130,000-140,000 yuan/mt range, and actual transactions were relatively sluggish. On the supply side, some production lines resumed production this month, and weekly smelting output increased. On the inventory side, the market saw slight destocking this week. By segment: upstream inventories edged down as shipments were made to material plants and traders; material plants saw a marked increase in consumption, with the most significant destocking; although some traders showed relatively strong willingness to sell, long-term contract supply and incremental purchases by material plants were sufficient to cover production needs, limiting actual shipments, and some traders instead saw slight inventory buildup this week. In the short term, the gap in psychological price levels between upstream and downstream remained, with bulls and bears continuing their tug-of-war, making it difficult to break the range-bound pattern for now.

Refined Cobalt:

This week, refined cobalt futures stopped falling and rebounded, and the spot price center edged up.On the supply side, early in the week, an ex-China miner announced purchases of low-priced intermediate product in the market, sending a clear signal of holding prices firm. Boosted by this, low prices on the electronic market rebounded from around 290,000 yuan/mt to above 300,000 yuan/mt, and then remained in a range-bound consolidation. As market sentiment recovered, traders that had previously suspended quoting gradually resumed external quotations this week, with the spot-futures price spread quoted at a premium of 1,000-13,000 yuan/mt; meanwhile, mainstream smelters lowered EXW prices to 310,000 yuan/mt. Demand side, downstream enterprises’ summer break had yet to end, and overall purchasing was mainly driven by restocking for rigid demand, with only limited improvement in transaction activity. In the short term, miners’ efforts to hold prices firm provided some support, but amid the off-season in consumption, insufficient demand follow-through may constrain upside room for a price rebound. Going forward, attention should be paid to the pace of downstream restocking after the summer break ends and the sustainability of intermediate product purchases.

Intermediate product:

This week, the cobalt intermediate products market remained in a stalemate, but the center of the tug-of-war moved down noticeably. Recently, an enterprise outside China sold small volumes of off-spec material at $15/lb, significantly weighing on market sentiment; to stabilize market expectations, at the beginning of the week, a miner outside China announced purchases of low-priced intermediate product at $16/lb and below, sending a clear signal of holding prices firm. From the quotation perspective, most miners still held their target prices above $20/lb, but downstream target purchase prices, dragged down by the decline in cobalt salt prices, pulled back further to $15-18/lb. The price spread between buyers and sellers persisted; recent tenders largely failed, and transactions remained difficult. As of this Thursday, SMM cobalt intermediate products (CIF China) were $18-20/lb, with an average of $19/lb, down $2.5/lb WoW. In the short term, miners’ price-support moves to purchase low-priced cargo may provide some support to the price floor, but before the psychological price spread between upstream and downstream narrows, the market is still unlikely to see substantive deals concluded, and the stalemate is expected to continue.

Cobalt salt (cobalt sulphate and cobalt chloride):

This week, the weakness in the cobalt sulphate market was hard to reverse, with the price center continuing to edge lower and buyer-seller bargaining further intensifying. Recently, low-priced deals for Indonesian cobalt sulphate at 63,000 yuan/mt had a marked impact on the market, becoming the main source of downward pressure on prices this week. Supply side, the MHP cobalt payables had pulled back to around a 70% level, and the spot production cost fell to about 69,000 yuan/mt, further weakening cost support. The quotation strategies of enterprises using primary material and recycled material converged, with both holding quotations at the 70,000 yuan/mt threshold; if downstream enterprises showed clear purchase willingness, shipments could be considered around 65,000-68,000 yuan/mt. Demand side, downstream target purchase prices generally remained anchored to the earlier low-priced deals at 63,000 yuan/mt, with target prices pressed to 63,000 yuan/mt and below. With a wide price spread between buyers and sellers, actual transactions remained difficult. As month-end approached, some enterprises began signing new orders. Currently, downstream target prices were at 90% of SMM’s low-end price and below, while upstream target levels were at 93-95%. As of this Thursday, SMM spot cobalt sulphate was quoted at 70,000-72,000 yuan/mt, with an average of 71,000 yuan/mt, down a cumulative 2,500 yuan/mt from last Friday. In the short term, as the September-October peak season approaches, downstream demand recovered slowly and enterprises had stockpiling needs; prices may gradually stop falling and stabilize from late August to early September. However, current market sentiment remained weak, and any price improvement still required clear signals of concentrated downstream purchasing.

This week, the cobalt chloride market edged down, with transactions still sluggish and showing no obvious improvement.Cost side, even recycling with the lowest costs was now facing losses in nickel, cobalt, and lithium; sentiment side, although enterprise sentiment remained pessimistic, an improvement was clearly felt—facing high-priced inventory in warehouses and high-cost raw material, enterprises’ willingness to hold prices firm for cobalt chloride increased; demand side, current demand remained sluggish—there would be some purchasing in the market, but small-volume purchases were not enough to lift prices. Recently, a top-tier player upstream intended to purchase intermediate product at USD 16 with no upper limit, which provided some support to market confidence, but it was still not enough to drive a rebound in prices. Overall, cobalt chloride prices were expected to remain weak but stable in the short term.

Cobalt salt (Co3O4):

This week, Co3O4 market transactions were also relatively limited, and the overall market ran steadily but weakly.Although upstream cobalt chloride prices declined, top-tier players kept their external quotations relatively firm and did not follow raw material prices with a sharp cut, reflecting that enterprises still tended to stabilize price expectations amid insufficient orders. Downstream purchase willingness was low, with strong wait-and-see sentiment in the market; actual transactions were mainly small orders driven by rigid demand. In the short term, Co3O4 prices were expected to mainly move sideways within a narrow range, with limited downside room and insufficient drivers for a rise.

Nickel sulphate:

As of this Thursday, the average SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate price declined.

Demand side, this week entered the month-end purchasing period; some enterprises carried out stockpiling, while some downstream enterprises mainly picked up goods under long-term contract, with weak spot order stockpiling sentiment and low acceptance of nickel salt prices. Supply side, some upstream enterprises had relatively high inventory levels and planned to reduce operating rate and seek shipments for destocking. Looking ahead, in the short term the overall market was expected to remain dominated by destocking, and prices were expected to remain under pressure overall.

Inventory, this week the upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index held at 8.1 days; the downstream precursor plant inventory index fell from 10 days to 9.3 days; the integrated enterprise inventory index declined from 9.7 days to 9.4 days. In terms of buying and selling strength, this week the upstream nickel salt smelter Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor held at 2, the downstream precursor plant purchase willingness sentiment factor held at 2.3, and the integrated enterprise sentiment factor held at 2.3.（Historical data can be accessed via the database)

Ternary cathode precursor:

This week,weakened, as nickel sulphate prices,fell during the week,held steady.

On discounts, for September and Q3 orders, as sulphate raw material costs were relatively high earlier, some producers still showed willingness to hold prices firm. For long-term contracts, some producers had already agreed annual contracts at the beginning of the year; for most producers, coefficients had not been raised yet. For quarterly contracts, downstream acceptance of coefficient increases was also weak. Except for some top-tier producers with certain bargaining power, most producers were broadly stable versus Q2. For spot orders, as nickel and cobalt salt prices had been relatively weak recently, some downstream enterprises sought toll processing of raw materials or expanded in-house production; September order coefficients remained under pressure.

On production, top-tier producers’ export orders remained strong this month, and September production schedules are expected to stay at a relatively high level. In China, top-tier producers also maintained high operating rates, but some small and mid-sized producers had yet to be lifted by the peak season, with expectations for September-October production schedules on the weaker side.

Looking ahead, sulphate prices had yet to show a clear rebound, and prices for subsequent new orders should focus on actual downstream demand during the September-October peak season.

Ternary cathode material:

This week, ternary cathode material prices retreated from highs.Cost side, nickel sulphate prices weakened again; cobalt sulphate prices saw the pace of declines slow and gradually stabilized. Lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide prices, after shooting up at the start of the week, pulled back consecutively, jointly driving ternary cathode material prices lower. In terms of transactions, as raw material prices swung wildly, battery cell manufacturers’ willingness to restock remained weak, and market trading was relatively sluggish, mainly focused on executing existing orders. On the demand side, in China’s EV market, some battery cell manufacturers slowed the pace of picking up goods, mainly because automaker orders were weaker than expectations; export orders remained at a high level and are expected to continue improving. In the consumer market, recent performance remained mediocre, with no sign of improvement for now. In terms of production schedules, domestic ternary cathode orders in August increased steadily; in September, momentum in EV market demand looked slightly insufficient, and with the August production schedule base expected to hit a record high, growth in September is expected to be relatively limited.

LFP:

This week, the supply-demand pattern in China’s LFP market showed no significant change WoW.On prices, the average LFP price this week rose WoW by 927.5 yuan/mt, an increase of about 1.63%. The rise in the average LFP price this week was mainly driven by higher raw material lithium carbonate prices: the average battery-grade lithium carbonate price was 3,400 yuan/mt higher WoW, up about 2.23%. Higher raw material costs pushed the LFP price center upward. Production side, LFP enterprises maintained high production momentum this week, supported by robust downstream order demand. Some new production lines completed commissioning and gradually released production this month. Incremental output mainly came from integrated enterprises and enterprises adopting non–iron phosphate process routes. Despite the gradual release of new output, overall LFP supply across the industry remained tight. Enterprises continued to draw down inventory to ensure order deliveries, and finished product inventories of materials extended their downtrend. The market overall maintained a tight balance between supply and demand. Looking ahead, industry production schedules in September are expected to continue to increase. In the short term, the pattern of robust demand and tight supply is likely to persist. It is recommended to monitor ramp-up and production release progress of new production lines, industry inventory changes, and downstream new order growth.

Iron phosphate:

Overall changes in the SMM iron phosphate market were relatively small this week, and prices remained relatively stable. Upstream and downstream enterprises have begun negotiations for September new orders. Based on the current tight supply and demand market structure, upstream enterprises still had willingness to raise prices further, but the overall increase is expected to be smaller than last month, with the pace of price increases slowing. Downstream enterprises, however, did not want prices to continue rising, believing that upstream raw material prices such as phosphoric acid and iron phosphate had not increased further, leaving the cost side without clear support. As both sides still had certain differences, the market was currently dominated by a wait-and-see stance, pending the finalization of negotiation results. In the short term, iron phosphate prices are expected to remain stable, and subsequent trends will depend on September order negotiations and supply and demand changes.

LCO:

This week, the LCO market trend was basically flat from last week, consolidating on a subdued note overall. Supply side, enterprises’ operating rates remained low. Continuous price cuts since the beginning of the year have significantly compressed profit margins, but the effect of boosting shipments was limited, and enterprises showed weak willingness to proactively increase production. Demand side, battery cell manufacturers’ production schedules were also weak, providing no obvious boost to actual demand for LCO. Meanwhile, downstream substitution toward ternary cathode material continued to rise, further suppressing LCO demand release. The supply-demand structure showed no improvement, and inventory digestion progressed slowly. In the short term, LCO prices are expected to still face relatively small downward pressure, though the decline may be relatively mild.

Anode:

This week, prices of artificial graphite anode material in China remained basically flat. Supply side, the market overall remained in a tight state seen earlier, with destocking continuing. Cost side, raw material coke prices showed relatively small fluctuations during the week, but the accumulated upward price pressure from earlier periods has not been fully digested, continuing to provide strong support to the anode cost side. Considering supply and demand as well as cost factors, enterprises’ willingness to hold prices firm was clear; however, as quotations at the beginning of the month had already been raised slightly, the market was currently in a digestion and transition phase. Looking ahead, artificial graphite was supported by improved demand expectations and an increasingly tight supply, leaving room for further price upside.

Natural graphite remained weak, with no improvement in end-use demand; prices hovered at low levels near the cost line for an extended period, and the stalemate between buyers and sellers continued.

Separator:

This week, separator prices continued to move sideways, with quotation ranges for all specifications basically unchanged from last week.In terms of specific quotations, prices for mid-to-high-end wet-process separators stayed firm: 5 μm (5 μm + 2 μm) at 1.57-1.87 yuan/m², 7 μm (7 μm + 2 μm) mainstream quotations at 1.14-1.337 yuan/m², and 9 μm (9 μm + 3 μm) at 1.135-1.29 yuan/m². Behind the stable prices was the combined result of an expanding supply-demand gap and a tug-of-war between upstream and downstream. August end-use production schedules were expected to increase by about 8% MoM, while separator production growth narrowed to around 3%. Production growth continued to lag downstream demand growth, and the supply-demand gap kept widening. However, after multiple rounds of price adjustments earlier, battery cell enterprises’ marginal acceptance of separator price hikes declined, and the upstream-downstream tug-of-war entered a stalemate. By product, coated products were relatively firm on support from energy storage and high-end power demand, while base film remained capped by competitive quotations from second- and third-tier enterprises, with limited upside. In the short term, August prices were expected to remain stable. As the traditional September order negotiation cycle approached, together with the likelihood of a further lift in downstream production schedules, separator producers’ willingness to increase prices was set to strengthen gradually. Market focus was on the actual implementation magnitude of the new round of order negotiations. Coated products were expected to remain the main driver of price increases, while base film increases may be relatively mild due to the competitive landscape.

Electrolyte

This week, electrolyte market prices rose.Cost side, LiPF6 continued to rise this week. This was mainly due to demand growth, while the industry’s overall operating rate was already high. Although a small number of producers had idle capacity, their willingness to ramp up quickly was relatively weak, as they intended to prioritize pushing up prices. Supply elasticity was insufficient, the market’s supply and demand was tight, and producers had strong confidence to hold prices firm. They raised quotations one after another, driving market prices higher. Additives side, VC prices also rose. Order negotiations have started in succession recently; as overall market supply showed no clear increase, the tight supply-demand pattern further intensified amid demand growth. Producers raised quotations versus earlier levels, pushing market prices higher. On the solvent side, earlier Middle East geopolitical conflicts lifted crude oil prices, and solvent costs rose accordingly. As solvents themselves were already near the break-even line, cost pressure was difficult to absorb internally and could only be passed downstream, leading to higher quotations. Raw material price increases drove electrolyte costs higher and were partially transmitted to electrolyte prices, resulting in an increase in electrolyte prices. Supply and demand side, power battery plants began stock up in advance for the September-October peak season, while the high prosperity of energy storage continued. These dual positives boosted battery cell production to climb steadily. Electrolyte enterprises generally produced based on sales, and as downstream orders expanded, the industry’s operating level rose in tandem. Overall, electrolyte costs had not yet been fully passed on to downstream clients, and subsequent price trends still need continuous tracking of raw material price changes and the pass-through situation.

Sodium-ion battery:

Shipments in the NFPP cathode segment were steadily delivered,and top-tier players’ capacity utilization rate stayed high. However, major downstream clients had strong requests to increase volumes, and existing capacity had already become tight. The industry was accelerating capacity expansion through toll processing cooperation, and the entire industry was expected to enter full production in Q4. In terms of process routes, precursor-route products had performance advantages but were scarce in market supply and remained at high quotations, with insufficient cost competitiveness; the phosphoric acid–iron route, relying on a self-supplied raw material system and long-term cost-reduction potential, remained the mainstream choice of top-tier players, with both technological transformation and new production lines progressing. Hard carbon shipments climbed month by month; prices trended downward, but the decline was smaller than client expectations. The tug-of-war over cost reduction continued, and there was still room for price cuts after new process verification is implemented. By application scenario, products with high C-rate and low-temperature performance carried a clear premium, while small power and room-temperature energy storage were the main volume drivers. Two-wheelers remained the first scenario to scale up, with top-tier battery plants having relatively high order visibility and planning to extend into areas such as energy storage; the certainty of energy storage and toll processing demand continued to strengthen, and multiple clients had locked in next year’s volume demand. Overall tone: marginal improvement in demand, cathode capacity as the current supply bottleneck, divergence in cost-side routes, and continued price negotiations for anodes.

Recycling:

Raw material side, lithium carbonate and nickel sulphate prices fluctuated this week, while cobalt sulphate prices fell steadily.This week, by ternary, LCO, and LFP material types, on the LFP hydrometallurgy side: taking LFP electrode black mass as an example, the current LFP electrode black mass price was 6,600-7,000 yuan per % lithium, basically flat versus the transaction level last Thursday WoW. Meanwhile, the current LFP battery black mass price was 5,700-6,300 yuan per % lithium, and the price spread versus electrode black mass has gradually widened. On the ternary and LCO side, nickel and cobalt payables for ternary electrode black mass were around 75.5-77%. Transactions for some high-nickel series such as 8-series and 9-series ternary electrode black mass were still around 78%, but all showed a slight decline. Cobalt payables for LCO electrode black mass were 73-75%, and lithium payables for LCO electrode black mass were 72-75%. At present, as secondary cobalt sulphate prices continued to edge down, downstream LCO hydrometallurgy enterprises were very cautious in purchasing, market transactions were sluggish, and payables for black mass such as pure cobalt and high-cobalt continued to be priced separately for cobalt and lithium; current prices were slightly lower than on the ternary side.

Downstream and end-use:

This week, ex-China battery cabin prices edged down, mainly affected by the decline in lithium carbonate.On August 27, the announcement of shortlisted candidates for the EPC general contracting of the JiQi Energy Storage Shache County 200,000 kW/1.2 million kWh grid-forming standalone ESS project was released. The No. 1 shortlisted candidate was China Energy Engineering Group Anhui Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd., with a bid price of 878.292425 million yuan and a bid unit price of 0.7319 yuan/Wh; the No. 2 shortlisted candidate was China Energy Engineering Group Jiangsu Electric Power Construction No. 3 Engineering Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Bohua Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd., with a bid price of 892.7538936 million yuan and a bid unit price of 0.744 yuan/Wh; the No. 3 shortlisted candidate was PowerChina Group Fujian Electric Power Survey & Design Institute Co., Ltd., with a bid price of 898.75465263 million yuan and a bid unit price of 0.749 yuan/Wh.

News:   

[MIIT: Automakers Should Submit Self-Inspection and Rectification Results by End-December 2026; Those Finding Defects Should Proactively Initiate Recalls]The general offices of four departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice on launching a special campaign for production conformity and quality improvement of road motor vehicle products. The notice proposed organizing enterprises to conduct self-inspection and rectification. Local industry and information technology authorities should organize key local road motor vehicle producers to comprehensively carry out self-inspection and rectification against access management requirements and key rectification issues, systematically identify problems in areas such as production conformity, reliability, durability, and testing/verification of new technologies for the enterprises themselves and key parts suppliers, earnestly complete rectification work, comprehensively strengthen supply chain management, and enhance the capability to ensure production conformity. Enterprises should submit their self-inspection and rectification results to local industry and information technology authorities by end-December 2026. For identified defects, enterprises should promptly file recall plans with the State Administration for Market Regulation and proactively implement recalls. Local industry and information technology authorities should fulfill territorial responsibilities, urge and guide local enterprises to strengthen testing and verification for aggressive innovative design of automotive products, fully assess safety risks, and prudently advance the application of new technologies in vehicles. (Jin10 Data APP)

[Cui Dongshu: The Decline in Auto Industry Profits Has Remained Large Recently; Profitability Pressure on Mainstream Automakers Will Still Increase Sharply]Jin10 Data reported on August 27 that Cui Dongshu of the CPCA published an article stating that lithium battery export prices fell 26% from 142,900 yuan in 2024 to 112,300 yuan in 2025, and fell 21%. In 2026, they fell to 105,000 yuan, down 11%, with the average export battery price in China at 106,000 yuan in July, down 3% YoY. From April to July, the price decline after the reduction in export tax rebates improved significantly versus last year. Recently, as the production scale of the auto market expanded and PPI rose, upstream lithium carbonate costs increased. Lithium battery export prices continued to decline, domestic battery prices surged, and the issue of automakers not producing batteries was severe, leading to a sustainable decline in automaker profits. Combined with the downtrend in profit margins in previous years, the decline in auto industry profits has remained large recently. Given the clear policy advantages of new energy under policy support, and due to not producing batteries and lacking bargaining power, profitability pressure on mainstream automakers will still increase sharply. As the country’s anti-involution efforts continued to advance, the boost to improving upstream industry profits has gradually become evident, while downstream pressure remained high.

[Haohua Technology: Average Price of Fluorine-Containing Lithium Battery Materials Rose More Than 63% YoY]Haohua Technology released its main operating data for the 2026 semiannual period on August 27. In H1, the average selling prices of multiple major products rose. Among them, fluorocarbon chemicals, affected by quotas and supported by both the cost side and demand side, rose 16.46% YoY. Driven jointly by a tight balance in supply and demand for core raw materials such as LiPF6, low industry inventory, a surge in downstream demand for new energy vehicles and energy storage, and rising costs such as upstream lithium fluoride, the average selling price of fluorine-containing lithium battery materials was 29,900 yuan/mt, up 63.49% YoY. Rigid demand in downstream fields such as lithium batteries, electronics, and anti-corrosion for fluoropolymers was steadily released, coupled with rigid support from upstream raw material costs such as fluorite and hydrofluoric acid, and overall market conditions performed stronger than the same period in previous years. (Jin10 Data APP)

Data source statement: Except for public information, all other data are processed by SMM based on public information and market communication, relying on SMM’s internal database model, for reference only and not constituting decision-making advice.

SMM New Energy Research Team

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