Ternary cathode material prices continued to rise sharply this week. On the raw material side, nickel sulphate prices rose significantly due to cost-side fluctuations, cobalt sulphate and manganese sulphate continued to rise slightly, lithium carbonate futures prices increased due to capital-side disturbances, driving spot transaction prices up rapidly, and lithium hydroxide prices also followed suit. Currently, most producers have not yet finalised the final commercial terms for annual orders, and there remains a significant divergence in discount coefficient expectations between upstream and downstream players.
On the demand side, affected by the rapid short-term price increases of raw materials, downstream battery cell manufacturers generally adopted a wait-and-see attitude, with procurement focused on digesting existing inventory, maintaining only essential pace, and showing weak initiative for stockpiling. Coupled with the traditional off-season at the beginning of the year, overall market transactions were sluggish. As most producers initiate pre-Chinese New Year stockpiling in mid-to-late January, subsequent orders are expected to see some increase, but the current market remains dominated by a wait-and-see sentiment. Price-wise, amid expectations of continued rising raw material costs, ternary cathode material prices still have room for further increase.
