This week, ternary cathode material prices continued their overall upward trend. Cost side, nickel sulphate prices remained stable, manganese sulphate saw a slight rise, and although cobalt sulphate maintained a consecutive upward trend, the rate of increase narrowed significantly compared to before; meanwhile, lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide prices also edged up, collectively pushing up the cost and strengthening the prices of ternary cathode materials. The persistently high cobalt sulphate prices drove a rapid increase in 5-series NCM prices, with some product quotations already exceeding those of high-nickel models. The sustained rise in 5-series product costs may somewhat suppress its demand in the consumer and small power markets, and some downstream battery cell manufacturers have begun considering switching to other alternative models.
This week, the fluctuation range of raw material prices narrowed, and mainstream producers generally resumed quotations. However, the current quotation levels generally remain higher than the psychological expectations of downstream battery cell enterprises, and market acceptance is expected to require some time to digest. As the year-end approaches, some enterprises are about to initiate preliminary negotiations on long-term contract commercial terms for the next year, and price trends are expected to become clearer by the end of this month.
Demand side, domestic EV market demand continued to improve, and some overseas car models also performed quite well, leading to a noticeable increase in production schedules for leading material enterprises; additionally, rising cobalt prices prompted some front-load orders. Demand in the consumer market was overall mediocre, with 6-series NCM orders performing relatively well.
