This week, ternary cathode material prices continued to rise. Raw material side, nickel sulphate has been continuously increasing due to tight supply and rising costs, while cobalt sulphate quotations have also continued to rise; after experiencing a significant surge over the past two weeks, lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide prices have stabilized in recent days, and are expected to face minor adjustments in the short term. However, the market generally maintains a bullish outlook for nickel, cobalt, and lithium prices in September. Against this backdrop, ternary cathode material prices are expected to continue their upward trend.
Demand side, the domestic market, driven by the traditional peak season, saw varying degrees of growth in orders for medium and medium-high nickel materials; the European market maintained stable demand for high-nickel materials, whereas the US market performance was relatively mediocre. In the consumer market, some producers reported good order conditions, with operating rates remaining high, particularly with a noticeable increase in demand for high-nickel products and an enhanced market focus on C-rate products. Overall, the ternary market showed a relatively positive performance in Q3.
