SMM October 23 News:
Electrolyte prices held steady this week. The average prices for ternary, LFP, and LMO electrolytes were 22,600 yuan/mt, 18,450 yuan/mt, and 15,000 yuan/mt, respectively. Cost side, LiPF6 faced intensifying supply-demand imbalance due to tight supply driven by rising demand: some enterprises had no stock available and suspended external quotations; those with remaining stock continued to raise prices, and despite limited transaction volumes, sporadic deals still boosted LiPF6 prices. Meanwhile, prices of key additives such as VC and FEC continued to climb, driven by strong end-use demand, directly putting significant pressure on electrolyte production costs. However, cost pass-through takes time, and sellers and buyers remain in a price negotiation phase. Demand side, with the ongoing promotion of pure-electric heavy-duty trucks and the traditional September-October peak season for auto sales, end-use demand increased, transmitting upward to the electrolyte segment and directly boosting overall electrolyte demand. Supply side, rising downstream demand has driven up operating rates at electrolyte enterprises, but constrained by tight supply of upstream raw materials and current electrolyte prices falling short of expectations, some firms opted to moderately control orders; however, the long-standing overcapacity in the industry has not fundamentally changed, and overall market production remains sufficient to cover downstream demand. Considering accumulating cost-side pressures and dynamic changes in the supply-demand relationship, electrolyte prices are expected to rise going forward.
SMM New Energy Research Team
Wang Cong 021-51666838
Ma Rui 021-51595780
Feng Disheng 021-51666714
Lü Yanlin 021-20707875
Zhou Zhicheng 021-51666711
Xu Mengqi 021-20707868
Hu Xuejie 021-20707858
