SMM, March 19:
Electrolyte market prices remained temporarily stable this week. Among them, the average prices of electrolyte for ternary power battery, LFP, and LMO were 31,250 yuan/mt, 29,500 yuan/mt, and 22,750 yuan/mt, respectively. Cost side, raw material prices for electrolyte fluctuated relatively small overall this week. After concentrated shipments of LiPF6 at the beginning of the month, manufacturers' inventory pressure eased somewhat. Coupled with still-strong cost support, the recent price decline narrowed significantly. On the solvent side, the sentiment for raw material price increases previously driven by the Middle East conflict moderated somewhat, and solvent prices did not see a significant rise this week. The overall cost of electrolyte remained relatively stable, providing some support for electrolyte prices. Demand side, downstream demand gradually recovered after the Chinese New Year, and automakers began advance stockpiling for new car model launches. In addition, with the increase in the number of production days during the month, demand in the ESS sector also increased. Production of both EV and ESS batteries increased, driving a rebound in electrolyte demand. Supply side, as orders increased, electrolyte enterprises became more willing to produce and raised operating rates based on order conditions, resulting in a corresponding increase in electrolyte production. Overall, constrained by the relatively weak overall bargaining power of the electrolyte industry, coupled with the current supply-demand pattern and the impact of cost-side price fluctuations, electrolyte market prices are expected to remain temporarily stable in the short term.
SMM New Energy Research Team
Wang Cong 021-51666838
Ma Rui 021-51595780
Feng Disheng 021-51666714
Lv Yanlin 021-20707875
Zhou Zhicheng 021-51666711
Xu Mengqi 021-20707868
Hu Xuejie 021-20707858
Chen Bolin 021-51666836
Wang Yizhou 021-51595909
