This week, the price of ternary cathode material slightly decreased. On the raw material side, the prices of cobalt sulphate and manganese sulphate remained relatively stable, while the prices of nickel sulphate, lithium carbonate, and lithium hydroxide showed a downward trend. Affected by recent market fluctuations and the unclear direction of tariff policies, the overall market sentiment leaned towards caution, presenting a wait-and-see attitude. Currently, market supply mainly relies on previously signed long-term contracts, and the relevant discount coefficients have not been adjusted. The spot order discount coefficients also showed no significant changes compared to last week.
In terms of production and orders, as the proportion of large power ternary cathode material and its downstream ternary battery cell products directly exported to the US is relatively low, the market generally believes that recent US tariff policies will have limited impact on overall demand in the short term. Currently, order execution and production schedules are proceeding as planned, and demand in Q2 is expected to recover compared to Q1. However, small power and consumer electronics ternary cathode materials, whose end-use products are directly exported to the US in a relatively high proportion, may face a certain risk of demand decline in the future. Considering that Japan, South Korea, and Europe are the main export markets for domestic ternary cathode materials and their downstream battery cell products, the market is more concerned about whether tariff policies between China and Europe, Japan, and South Korea may change under the influence of the international situation, compared to the changes in US-China tariff policies. In terms of prices, it is expected that the price of ternary cathode material may show a slight fluctuating trend next week, following the fluctuations in raw material prices.
