China June power battery cell production decreased MoM due to mid-year destocking, July is expected to see a slight increase

In June, China's power battery cell production was 65.7 GWh, down 3% MoM and up 6% YoY. The trade-in policy was implemented in June, together with the launch of new NEV models and the mid-year sales push by car producers, leading to a positive trend in NEV sales. However, due to the high inventory of vehicles at dealers in the previous period, the demand for battery cell stockpiling decreased. Together with the destocking moves by battery cell manufacturers at mid-year, power battery cell production continued to decline.

It is expected that in July, after the mid-year sales push by car producers, market will cool down, and the pace of new model launches may slow down slightly. Together with inventory accumulation at the dealer level, July car sales may be flat compared to June. However, after significant destocking in June, battery cell manufacturers may rebuild inventory and increase scheduled production in July.