This week, ternary cathode precursor prices rebounded slightly. On the raw material side, nickel sulphate prices continued to drop slightly, cobalt sulphate market sentiment improved with prices rising, while manganese sulphate remained stable. In terms of discount coefficients, long-term contract discounts from producers were largely maintained at previous levels, while spot order discounts for nickel sulphate were lowered, with little change for cobalt sulphate and manganese sulphate.
Currently, precursor producers are still negotiating commercial terms for next year's long-term contracts. Due to high uncertainty in future raw material price trends and insufficient willingness among downstream cathode plants to accept price increases, some precursor producers are reluctant to sign contracts with excessively long cycles to avoid risks, indicating a trend toward shorter contract cycles next year. Most producers have not yet finalised the commercial terms for next year's long-term contracts. Market feedback suggests that, as price increases have not yet effectively passed through to the battery cell segment, downstream cathode plants have limited room for concessions, and precursor producers still lack pricing power amid fierce industry competition, making a discount increase relatively unlikely.
On the demand side, as year-end approaches, both raw material procurement and production pace at precursor producers have slowed down, with some enterprises actively controlling inventory levels. Meanwhile, demand in both the power and consumer markets has experienced a seasonal pullback. Looking ahead to next week, precursor prices are expected to be primarily driven by rising cobalt sulphate, with room for further increase.
