In September 2026, China's electrolyte market edged up overall, with the industry chain showing significant structural divergence: lithium chemicals and additives provided strong cost support, while the solvent segment was disrupted by geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, leading to considerable price fluctuations. Rising raw material costs drove electrolyte transaction prices up slightly MoM, but with relatively ample capacity on the finished product side, the extent of electrolyte price increases remained mild.
Specifically, LiPF6 prices edged up this month. On the supply-demand side, the industry's overall operating rate was already at a high level, with most mainstream producers running at full capacity. Some enterprises with newly commissioned capacity not yet fully ramped up were gradually increasing production in line with orders, reluctant to expand output rapidly without clear demand. Some integrated enterprises with surplus capacity prioritized supplying their own electrolyte production, resulting in relatively small export volumes and limited overall growth. Meanwhile, a few producers saw production decline instead of rise due to maintenance. Combined with continued destocking in the earlier market, inventory remained at low levels, and producers held prices firm with strong sentiment, driving LiPF6 quotes steadily higher. However, lithium carbonate, its main raw material, saw a notable price decline this month, creating some disturbance on the cost side of LiPF6, which limited the extent of its price increase.
Additive side, this month, VC prices stabilized at highs. VC is a high-risk fine chemical product, with high production entry barriers, lengthy equipment construction and commissioning cycles, and slow release of new effective supply in the industry. Combined with overall market inventory remaining low, the supply side offers solid support. However, current VC prices and industry profits are already at relatively high levels, and enterprises, considering long-term operations and client relationship maintenance, have limited willingness to actively push prices up. Therefore, with downstream electrolyte demand remaining steady and the supply-demand tight balance persisting, VC prices stabilized at highs this month.
This month, the solvent segment showed clear divergence. Early in the month, crude oil continued to rise, disturbed by Middle East geopolitical conflicts and the Saudi oil pipeline explosion, driving up prices of upstream basic raw materials such as ethylene oxide and propylene oxide. Meanwhile, overseas procurement demand for industrial-grade DMC increased, pushing up industrial-grade DMC prices. The solvent industry itself has thin profit margins, making it difficult for enterprises to absorb the cost pressure from sharp upstream raw material increases. Upstream raw material price hikes were quickly passed downstream, and battery-grade solvent prices shot up in phases. In the latter half of the month, international crude oil prices pulled back, and overseas buyers' willingness to accept high-priced industrial-grade DMC weakened. Industrial-grade DMC prices fell under pressure, dragging battery-grade EMC and other related solvents down in tandem. Overall, although solvent prices pulled back at month-end, market transaction centers remained higher than last month's negotiated order levels.
Considering various raw materials, the comprehensive production cost of electrolyte still increased, and the earlier cost pass-through to downstream battery cell manufacturers was incomplete. Under the combined effect of these two factors, electrolyte prices rose further.
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