This week, ternary cathode precursor prices continued their upward trend. The sustained rise in nickel sulphate, cobalt sulphate, and manganese sulphate prices further increased precursor costs, prompting producers to quickly raise their quotations. Regarding discount coefficients, long-term contract orders largely maintained their original levels, but spot orders for nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate saw varying degrees of discount increases. With the further extension of the cobalt export ban in the DRC, coupled with expectations of tight nickel sulphate supply, ternary cathode precursor prices are expected to continue rising.
Demand side, recent orders from major producers performed well, and the overall industry operating rate improved. In addition to persistently high downstream demand, pre-holiday stockpiling for the National Day also boosted production growth to some extent. Production is expected to peak this month, with the increase still mainly driven by the domestic EV market, while the small power and consumer sectors showed relatively mediocre performance recently. After the concentrated stockpiling concludes this month, market demand is expected to gradually pull back starting in October.
