SMM New Energy Industry Weekly Sharing – Cathode Material14th May 2024

PCAM:

The price of ternary precursor saw a slight uptick this Wednesday. On the supply side, due to the scarcity of spot nickel salts, precursor enterprises continue to prioritize the supply to their main clients. In terms of demand, the trading activity of scattered orders has been relatively stable compared to previous periods, with some small factories facing losses in self-produced precursors and still opting for partial external procurement. Concerning long-term orders, downstream customers have reduced their pickup volumes. On the cost side, the increase in nickel salt prices has surpassed the decrease in cobalt salt prices, leading to an overall rise in production costs. Looking ahead, the price of nickel in ternary precursors is expected to remain stable in the short term, sustained by the high cost of nickel salts.

CAM:

This Wednesday, the price of ternary materials declined. On the cost side, a significant drop in lithium prices at the beginning of the week led to a decrease in the cost of ternary materials. From the supply perspective, the production of ternary materials in May 2024 stood at 58,441 tons, representing a month-on-month decrease of approximately 10%. Despite expectations of price cuts and promotions by automobile manufacturers, the seasonal decline in car sales during April was not reversed.

Battery manufacturers, considering their own cell and material inventory levels, have made certain adjustments to their May production schedules, indicating a weakening trend in the production scheduling of ternary material companies. Furthermore, from the perspective of ternary material manufacturers themselves, the reduction in downstream orders, coupled with the impending need to reduce inventory, has led to a decline in production volumes.

On the demand side, in the power market, the demand for ternary materials from battery cell manufacturers is expected to experience a certain level of decline in May. The reasons for this include:

1. Stable raw material prices in the first quarter and optimistic vehicle sales for ternary models, leading to inventory stocking behavior by cell manufacturers. However, as certain car manufacturers lowered their sales targets for the second quarter, cell manufacturers are digesting previous inventory levels, weakening the demand for ternary materials.

2. There was stocking for new models in the first quarter, which led to the partial consumption of second-quarter stocking demand.

It is anticipated that the prices of ternary materials will remain stable moving forward.

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