Recently, the Ecological Environment Branch of Zaozhuang High-tech Zone approved the environmental impact assessment documents for the new ultra-fast charging battery industrialization project of Shandong Xinbang New Energy Co., Ltd., giving the green light for construction. The project plans to construct electrode production workshops, cell workshops, formation and capacity grading workshops, module workshops, comprehensive warehouses, hazardous waste warehouses, a wastewater treatment station, and other supporting facilities. The main products will be energy storage battery packs and power batteries for new energy vehicles. The overall plant plans to include 2 ESS production lines, 3 BEV production lines, and 8 PACK production lines, with a planned total capacity of approximately 52 GWh.

Amid sustained demand growth, India plans to build a strategic reserve of critical minerals including lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and rare earths. The stockpile will be sized to cover six months of domestic consumption, aiming to guard against risks of global supply disruptions and sharp raw material price volatility. Led by India’s Ministry of Mines and Ministry of Heavy Industries, the reserve covers key raw materials essential for new energy vehicles, energy storage and the electronics sector, fields where India currently relies heavily on imports. At present, the United States, China, South Korea and other countries have already established strategic reserve systems for critical minerals.

[SMM Lithium Battery Electrolyte Market Weekly Review: Electrolyte Prices Remained Stable This Week (2026.4.27-4.30)] From April 27 to April 30, 2026, electrolyte prices remained stable. Future price trends will still need to focus on upstream raw material price movements.

It has become a consensus that domestic demand for new energy vehicles will be under periodic pressure in 2026. However, the industry has not lost its growth momentum but is shifting from past expansion driven by pricing and policy to a growth model supported by products, structural optimization, and markets outside China. At the same time, the rise on the cost side is squeezing profit margins, making the issue of "growing but not profiting" increasingly visible.

When we shifted our perspective away from price fluctuations, we found that the lithium carbonate market in Q1 2026 was undergoing deeper structural changes. These changes were reflected not only in price changes, but also in policy-driven dynamics on the demand side, geopolitical constraints on the supply side, and the quiet transformation of lithium carbonate's role within the entire new energy industry chain.

In March 2026, China's ternary cathode material exports (NCM and NCA combined) reached 21,900 metric tons, representing a 103% MoM increase and a 163% YoY increase.

The second-life application battery cell market operated in a mediocre manner overall this week, with no significant improvement in market conditions. Cost side, lithium carbonate prices rose, nickel sulphate edged up in tandem, and cobalt sulphate pulled back slightly. Under divergent raw material trends, overall cost support remained relatively stable. Supply side, battery cell enterprises maintained a steady shipments pace, with no notable increase or decrease in market supply. Demand side, structural differentiation was significant: energy storage remained the core driver, with tight supply of mainstream models such as 314Ah and 280Ah, but the price uptrend had clearly slowed down; B-grade battery cells, constrained by higher procurement standards and compliance requirements, struggled to enter the mainstream market, with prices remaining stable. The small power market was significantly impacted by the "Interim Measures for the Recovery and Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Power Batteries from New Energy Vehicles" implemented on April 1. The new regulation explicitly prohibits the use of waste power batteries in e-bike and other sectors, creating a temporary gap in previously applicable scenarios. Currently, stable prices in the small power sector were not supported by demand but mainly because lithium, nickel, and cobalt salt prices remained at elevated levels, leaving enterprises limited room for price concessions, with strong wait-and-see sentiment prevailing in the market.

Recently, SAIC-GM-Wuling and CATL signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Ningde, Fujian. The two parties will collaborate around four major directions: industrial scaling, passenger-commercial compatible battery swapping, joint global expansion, and ecological synergy, advancing their cooperation from single-model supply to full-spectrum, full-scenario ecological synergy. In terms of battery supply, more than 15 new energy vehicle models under SAIC-GM-Wuling will adopt CATL as a core power battery partner, and they will jointly expand overseas markets. In April 2026, the "Huajing S" equipped with CATL batteries was officially unveiled, enhancing the intelligent travel experience with high-power performance.

Data released by CAAM showed that in March, China's automobile production and sales reached 2.917 million units and 2.899 million units, down 3% and 0.6% YoY, respectively. Among them, new energy vehicle production and sales reached 1.231 million units and 1.252 million units, down 3.6% and up 1.2% YoY, respectively, while exports were up 1.3 times YoY.

Recently, the groundbreaking ceremony for Anhui Yuqing Precision Industry Co., Ltd.'s project to produce 300,000 lightweight structural components for new energy vehicles annually was held in Ma'anshan Economic and Technological Development Zone. Upon completion, the project will achieve an annual production capacity of 300,000 lightweight structural components for new energy vehicles, focusing on the core needs of the new energy vehicle industry and contributing to the lightweighting and energy-saving development of automobiles. The project mainly uses aluminum profiles and cutting fluid as raw materials, balancing capacity and quality to create an efficient, intelligent, and green production base.