After both sodium-ion battery cathodes and hard carbon anodes recorded significant increases YoY and MoM in May, the midstream and downstream segments of the industry chain—electrolytes and battery cells—also delivered impressive results, yet structural issues lurk beneath the growth.

In May, key materials for sodium-ion batteries sustained their strong momentum, with both cathode and hard carbon anode recording sharp YoY and MoM growth. Top-tier players’ order books were full and capacity utilization rates approached their limits. On the supply side, the pattern of rising volumes and stable prices was pronounced, yet pressure to pass on rising raw material costs was also building.

During SNEC 2026, Jinko Solar held 10 consecutive strategic partnership signing ceremonies, reaching Tiger Neo 3.0 supply agreements with C&D Emerging Energy, Jiangsu Yude New Energy, Xcel Renewable Energy Corp. of the Philippines, UCC Group of Bangladesh, and six core partners in Pakistan. The partnerships span multiple key markets, with application scenarios covering utility-scale ground-mounted plants, commercial and industrial distributed projects, and other diverse application areas, fully promoting the large-scale deployment and widespread application of Tiger Neo 3.0 high-efficiency modules in the global market.

China's fuel cell vehicle sales hit a record high in Dec 2025 (3,500+ units), but plunged to under 100 in early 2026. The year-end surge was driven by subsidy deadline deliveries, not real demand. As the 15th Five-Year Plan shifts from purchase subsidies to usage-based incentives, the industry must now focus on cost reduction and commercial viability.

This week, China's second-life battery cell market edged up overall. Upstream lithium carbonate dropped sharply, while nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate declined in tandem. However, the high production costs accumulated in the earlier period had not yet been fully absorbed, and costs were gradually transmitted downstream to second-life products. Constrained by end-use demand, the extent of cost pass-through remained limited. Trends diverged across sub-categories: ternary second-life battery cells only edged up slightly, with weak downstream power demand and limited room for further price increases; LFP cells showed relatively promising upside potential, as Grade A LFP cells, being core raw materials for energy storage second-life applications, maintained solid rigid-demand fundamentals; Grade B cells leveraged price advantages to penetrate low and mid-end and specialized application scenarios; disassembled battery cells, subject to safety concerns and related policy restrictions, had low market acceptance, with quotes remaining stable. This round of price increases was primarily driven by lagging cost pass-through from the earlier period. Combined with the current rapid decline in lithium prices, all categories faced significant resistance to further price increases.

Capacity side, according to incomplete statistics, China's alkaline electrolyzer market remained at 43.77 GW, and the PEM electrolyzer market remained at 2.7 GW. This week, Peric Hydrogen, a subsidiary of CSSC 718 Research Institute, exported customized integrated hydrogen production and refueling station equipment to Indonesia. Suzhou Suqing Hydrogen Production Equipment Co., Ltd. completed the shipment of a 5 MW containerized green electricity hydrogen production system, serving the first "five-in-one" integrated energy station project combining oil, gas, hydrogen, electricity, and storage in Northwest China. Project-related updates: CGN (Wuhai Hainan District) New Energy Co., Ltd. : CGN (Wuhai Hainan District) New Energy's hydrogen-based green fuel grid-connected green electricity direct-connection project (hydrogen production section) was officially registered. The project is located in the High-tech Low-carbon Industrial Park in Hainan District, Wuhai City, with a total investment of 313.6992 million yuan. The project plans to build a 22,000 Nm³/h hydrogen production facility, equipped with 22 alkaline water electrolysis units each with a capacity of 1,000 Nm³/h, along with supporting gas-liquid separation and hydrogen purification facilities, producing hydrogen with a purity of 99.999%. The construction period is scheduled from November 2026 to November 2028. Jiyuan (Siping) Green Energy Co., Ltd. : Jiyuan (Siping) Green Energy selected its affiliated party, State Nuclear Electric Power Planning Design & Research Institute, through public tender to undertake the EPC general contracting project for the hydrogen production facility, with a fixed contract price of 204.96 million yuan. The general contracting scope covers the design of the hydrogen production facility, procurement of equipment and materials excluding Party A-supplied electrolysis water complete sets of equipment and rectifier cabinets, civil construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance, and full-process warranty services, with qualified hydrogen output scheduled before August 30, 2027. Wojiang Clean Energy (Xinjiang Zhundong Economic and Technological Development Zone) Co., Ltd.: The general contracting contract for the Zhundong 2 billion m³/year coal-to-natural gas project was signed in Urumqi. The project is located in Changji Zhundong Economic Development Zone, with a total investment of 15.486 billion yuan. It is expected to commence production by the end of October 2026, with supporting output of multiple types of by-products. The project includes supporting electrolysis hydrogen production integrated with green methanol production, and plans a 650,000 mt/year CCUS carbon capture facility to be implemented in two phases, progressively achieving full green electricity coverage while simultaneously demonstrating large-scale crushed coal pressurized gasifiers to advance the scaling-up of coal-to-gas equipment. Da'an Jidian Green Hydrogen Energy Co., Ltd. : The Da'an wind and solar green hydrogen-to-ammonia integrated demonstration project issued a tender for additional equipment, planning to add one set of 1,000 Nm³/h alkaline electrolysis hydrogen production unit. The project broke ground in May 2023 and commenced production in July 2025, supported by 800 MW of wind and solar power capacity. It adopts a dual-route hydrogen production approach of 36,000 Nm³/h alkaline plus 9,600 Nm³/h PEM, with an annual output of 32,000 mt of green hydrogen and 180,000 mt of green ammonia, while simultaneously deploying two types of large-capacity hydrogen storage facilities using solid-state and organic liquid technologies. Longyuan Power Group Co., Ltd.: Longyuan Power announced the winning candidate for the procurement of 500 Nm³/h PEM electrolyzer equipment for the Zhangye Carbon Neutrality Industrial Base Wind-Solar-Hydrogen-Storage Integration Project. Dongfang Electric (Chengdu) Hydrogen Energy ranked first with a bid of 6.3 million yuan. The project is located in the Circular Economy Demonstration Park of Zhangye Economic Development Zone and is SPIC Gansu's first green electricity-to-hydrogen project. It plans to build a 22,000 Nm³/h alkaline hydrogen production main unit with supporting hydrogen storage tanks, and simultaneously construct a 2,000 Nm³/h hydrogen production pilot platform including a 500 Nm³/h PEM unit. Yanchang Petroleum Gas Group Transportation Energy Company: The hydrogen refueling demonstration station at the Fuping Service Area (North Zone) on the Beijing-Kunming Expressway, constructed by the company, successfully achieved mechanical completion and entered the commissioning phase. The station is a standardized Level 3 hydrogen refueling station equipped with an intelligent hydrogen refueling control system capable of automated operations and full-process monitoring and traceability. After commissioning, the station will primarily serve hydrogen-powered heavy trucks and intercity hydrogen buses, filling the gap in hydrogen refueling infrastructure along the Weinan section of the Beijing-Kunming Expressway and improving the hydrogen refueling network for the green freight loop from Hancheng to Fuping and Huangling. Guangdong Yuntao Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd.: Two major hydrogen energy projects of Yuntao Hydrogen Energy were launched. Its Beitai Road hydrogen refueling station was officially put into operation, becoming a new benchmark hydrogen refueling station in south China. The station is a supporting project for the Minke Park, benchmarked against the Liangtian model hydrogen refueling station. It covers an area of 3,100 m², is equipped with 4 hydrogen dispensers and 8 hydrogen refueling nozzles, with a maximum 24-hour refueling capacity of 4,000 kg, capable of serving 200 hydrogen-powered dump trucks or 400 cold chain logistics vehicles per day, further improving the vehicle hydrogen refueling network in the Greater Bay Area. Huawang (Qingdao) Hydrogen Energy Technology Group Co., Ltd. : The pre-award announcement for the hydrogen refueling station equipment procurement project of Qingdao Hydrogen Energy Industrial Park was released. Shanghai Hydrogen Maple Energy and Jiangsu Guofu Hydrogen Energy were listed as the top two candidates, with bids of 14.18 million yuan and 13.67 million yuan, respectively. The project was jointly tendered by Huawang (Qingdao) Hydrogen Energy and PetroChina Pipeline Bureau Engineering. The total project investment is 70 million yuan, with a construction cost of 14.5 million yuan. The project covers an area of 5,761 m² and plans to build a Level 3 hydrogen refueling station with a building area of 1,302 m², designed for a maximum daily 12-hour hydrogen refueling capacity of 2,500 kg, equipped with 4 units of 35 MPa hydrogen dispensers and 8 hydrogen refueling nozzles. This tender covers the full process including complete hydrogen refueling equipment, valves, automation, electrical supply, and on-site installation and commissioning. Huadian New Energy Group Co., Ltd. Fujian Branch: The Quanzhou Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment approved the environmental impact assessment document for Huadian Fujian's 5 MW flexible off-grid seawater hydrogen production technology research and pilot verification project. The project is constructed by Huadian New Energy Group Co., Ltd. Fujian Branch and is located at the No. 10 wind turbine site of Quanhui Wind Farm in Quanhui Petrochemical Industrial Park. As a seawater-to-hydrogen pilot project, it relies on two on-site wind turbines for power supply to conduct off-grid electrolysis seawater hydrogen production experiments. The project covers a total area of 1,683.80 m², with a total operation duration of 1,000 hours and a total investment of 18.7 million yuan, of which 1.681 million yuan is for environmental protection. The overall system consists of six major functional modules and supporting utilities. Policy Review 1. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and other departments issued a notice on the release of the Guidelines for Non-fossil Energy Electricity Consumption Accounting (Trial). The document states that coordination with energy statistics, carbon emission accounting, and other systems should be strengthened. Factors such as physical connections, electricity energy trading, and green electricity certificate and green electricity trading should be comprehensively considered to classify and clarify the rules for recognizing non-fossil energy electricity consumption and the accounting methods at the provincial (autonomous region, municipality directly under the central government, the same hereinafter) and municipal (prefecture-level) levels, as well as for electricity users. Recognition methods for non-fossil energy electricity consumption: Physical recognition. Self-generated and self-consumed electricity from non-fossil energy sources, and self-consumed electricity from new business models such as green electricity direct connection, are recognized as the non-fossil energy electricity consumption of the electricity user. Production electricity consumed by non-fossil energy power generation projects is recognized as the non-fossil energy electricity consumption of the respective power generation enterprise. Transaction recognition. This includes two recognition methods: electricity energy trading (including conventional non-fossil energy electricity trading, green electricity trading, etc., the same hereinafter) and green electricity certificate trading (including green electricity certificate transfers, etc., the same hereinafter). 2. The Jilin Provincial Energy Bureau and the Jilin Provincial Development and Reform Commission jointly issued a notice on the Implementation Plan for Accelerating the Integrated and Converged Development of New Energy in Jilin Province. Overall objectives: By 2030, integrated and converged development will become an important approach for new energy development across the province. New scenarios featuring integration and convergence will continue to emerge. The province's new energy development models will be more flexible, consumption pathways more diversified, application scenarios more abundant, and the electricity market more dynamic. More than 50 integrated and converged projects and application scenarios will be completed, providing strong support for the comprehensive green transformation of the province's economic and social development. 3. The Guangdong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation issued a public notice soliciting opinions on the Guangdong provincial local standard Operational Specifications for Integrated Hydrogen Production, Storage, and Refueling Devices (Review Draft). The document states that this standard specifies the basic requirements, personnel management, equipment and facility management, hydrogen quality management, hydrogen refueling operation management, safety management, archive management, and data recording for the operation of integrated hydrogen production, storage, and refueling devices. Enterprise Updates Tianji Hydrogen Energy Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. : Tianji Hydrogen Energy successively signed agreements with Jiaqing New Energy and Manst Hydrogen Energy. The three parties will conduct in-depth industry chain cooperation in green hydrogen equipment and project development. According to the agreements, the parties will cooperate in multiple dimensions including electrolyzer and post-processing system procurement, joint project bidding, and agency sales. They will also establish strict intellectual property protection and exclusive collaboration mechanisms to ensure the stability and competitiveness of cooperative projects, and jointly tackle hydrogen energy application challenges across multiple scenarios. SPIC Green Energy Co., Ltd.: Huang Qiang, Secretary of the Jilin Provincial Party Committee, conducted a survey on major project construction in Changchun and Siping. He emphasized the need to fully implement the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping regarding work in Jilin, focus on building a modern industrial system and modern infrastructure system, and accelerate the advancement of major project construction. Jiangsu Trina Green Hydrogen Technology Co., Ltd. : Trina Green Hydrogen signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Nanjing Institute of the Fifth Electronics Research Institute of MIIT. The two parties will focus on the urgent needs for high-quality development of the PV+ESS+hydrogen industry, and conduct in-depth collaboration across five major areas: joint construction of a comprehensive PV+ESS+hydrogen testing platform, joint research on cutting-edge technologies, product detection and evaluation, industry standard development, and full-chain industrial technology services. Through the strong alliance model of "industry leader + authoritative scientific research and detection institution," they aim to address the shortcomings in PV+ESS+hydrogen equipment testing and verification. Enric (Bengbu) Compressor Co., Ltd. : Two large skid-mounted hydrogen pipeline compressors independently designed and with core technologies self-developed by the company successfully completed factory acceptance testing and were officially shipped for delivery. The equipment will support China's first long-distance green hydrogen transmission pipeline project. China Southern Power Grid Power Technology Co., Ltd.: The company completed core technology breakthroughs for long-endurance hydrogen-powered drones and successfully conducted pilot applications in mountain power grid inspection scenarios at the Meizhou Power Supply Bureau of Guangdong Power Grid. Wuhu Shipyard (Wuhu Shipyard Co., Ltd. : The Tongzhouwan site at Wuhu Shipyard's Nantong base completed the semi-submersible float-off launching of the vessel "18515." The vessel is an 18,500-deadweight-tonnage methanol dual-fuel high-end chemical tanker and is the first vessel in the series. It has a total length of 149.8 meters, a design speed of 14 knots, and can use methanol as clean fuel. This launching cleared a key step in standardized construction and will help promote local shipbuilding industry development. Zhangjiagang Port Group Co., Ltd. : The first round of bidding for Zhangjiagang Port's 10 hydrogen fuel cell tractor project had only two valid suppliers, failing to meet the bid opening requirements. The procurement method was changed to negotiated procurement. This procurement involves 10 units of 45 kN hydrogen fuel cell tractors, including 1 unit with intelligent assisted driving, for intra-port transfer operations and required to be compatible with existing flatbed trailers. Taiyuan Public Transport Holdings (Group) Co., Ltd. : The company selected a local gas supply service provider through merit-based evaluation to ensure daily hydrogen supply for 6 hydrogen-powered buses, with unit price settlement based on actual gas consumption. The supplied hydrogen must comply with the GB/T3634.2-2011 high-purity hydrogen standard. The service provider is required to deploy fixed hydrogen refueling stations in Taiyuan, prioritize emergency hydrogen refueling for public buses, implement one-card-per-vehicle hydrogen refueling management, with a project service period of two years. Lanzhou Lanshi Petroleum Equipment Engineering Co., Ltd.: The second-generation 45 MPa ionic liquid hydrogen compressor and 22 MPa hydraulic-driven piston hydrogen compressor, customized for a domestic energy station, successfully completed all testing procedures including boost commissioning and electrical control system joint debugging. Patent Applications 1. Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) published patent CN2025110028, developing a ceramic-based anion exchange membrane with a laboratory-tested lifespan of 80,000 hours. 2. Johnson Matthey (UK) filed patent WO2025109876, disclosing an Fe-Ni-Mo ternary non-precious metal catalyst formulation with activity approaching that of platinum-based materials. Technology Footprint/Technical Specifications 1. The team led by Professor Li Zhipeng from Northwestern Polytechnical University innovatively constructed a three-dimensional multi-physics coupling model for tubular solid oxide fuel cells, systematically revealing the quantitative effects of temperature, electrode thickness, porosity, and oxygen domain geometric parameters on battery output performance. 2. The National Hydrogen Energy Power Quality Inspection and Testing Center of China Automotive Engineering Research Institute completed and commercially opened a 0–400 kW hydrogen-involved loaded tri-axial vibration testing platform, addressing the shortcomings in large power hydrogen-involved multi-physics coupling testing in China. 3. The high specific power cathode-closed air-cooled fuel cell stack technology developed by the team of Academician Chen Zhongwei and Associate Researcher Zhang Meng from the National Key Laboratory of Energy Catalytic Conversion at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics passed the scientific and technological achievement appraisal by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation. This technology effectively resolves the industry contradiction between water retention and oxygen mass transfer in air-cooled fuel cells, addressing technical challenges such as low-humidity performance degradation, carbon corrosion, membrane drying and flooding, and high-power thermal management. 4. Two group standards on hydrogen production by water electrolysis were officially released and implemented: Technical Specifications for Safety of Hydrogen Production by Water Electrolysis and Accounting Methods for Economic Operation Indicators of Hydrogen Production by Water Electrolysis. 5. Petronor and H2SITE collaborated to advance membrane technology for hydrogen production, improving high-purity hydrogen and low-carbon efficiency in refining. 6. Dalian University of Technology designed an electron pump catalyst with an asymmetric photo-responsive structure, maintaining the asymmetry of electron distribution.

The General Office of Shanghai Municipal People's Government recently released "Several Opinions on Deepening the Development of Shanghai as a Global Asset Management Center." The key policies related to the gold market are as follows: (3) Enhancing the Influence of "Shanghai Price" Promote the authorization of commodity futures settlement prices to more overseas exchanges, support the "going global" of delivery services, continuously enhance the reach of benchmark prices for commodities and gold, and expand application scenarios for "Shanghai Gold." (13) Facilitating Allocation Channels at Home and Abroad Steadily expand institutional opening-up of the gold market, and support cooperation between the Shanghai and Hong Kong gold markets.

Driven by the global energy structure transformation and the "dual carbon" goals, battery technology is evolving from a traditional power storage medium into a core engine reshaping transportation, consumer electronics, and even the energy internet. From fundamental breakthroughs in materials science to the industrialisation of cutting-edge technologies such as solid-state and sodium-ion batteries, the battery industry is in a period of technological explosion with intense competition. This conference brings together the world's top scholars, industry chain leaders, and capital forces, aiming to break down barriers between industry, academia, research, and application. We will delve into key topics including high energy density, ultimate safety, ultra-fast charging technology, and recycling, jointly charting a new blueprint for green, efficient, and sustainable energy. Nayuan New Materials Technology (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. will attend this grand event to discuss industry development trends with industry peers and jointly drive battery technology to new heights. form to sign up immediately, witness and participate in this significant and far-reaching industry event, and create a brilliant new chapter together! Nayuan New Materials Technology (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. was established in March 2022, headquartered in Xinwu District, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. It is a national-level high-tech enterprise specialising in the R&D, production, and sales of cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries. Core Products and Technological Advantages The company's core product is the modified polyanion sodium iron sulphate (NFS) cathode material system (main material + dedicated additive), making it currently the only enterprise in China capable of providing NFS core "hard" additives at scale. Nayuan New Materials pioneered the "scaffold-building" additive technology, successfully overcoming three major industry-wide challenges of NFS materials — low compaction density, cell swelling and gassing, and rapid degradation during high-temperature cycling. Meanwhile, the Nayuan NFS system material achieves an electrode compaction density of 2.7 g/cm³, combined with a high average voltage of 3.7 V, as well as good moisture resistance, enabling broad compatibility with existing LFP and ternary lithium battery cell production lines for mass production. Based on the same platform technology, the next-generation anode-free sodium-ion battery can be developed with an energy density of 220 Wh/kg, and the anode-free all-solid-state sodium-ion battery can achieve an energy density of 320 Wh/kg, surpassing mainstream LFP levels while reducing material costs by 70%–80% compared to LFP, featuring a 3.7 V high-voltage platform and water-soluble easy-to-recycle characteristics. Team and R&D The company was founded by a doctoral team with extensive German industrial and research backgrounds. Founder and Chairman Dr. Liu Zhongqing holds a doctoral degree from Germany. He conducted postdoctoral research at the Jülich Research Centre (in the team of Chinese Academy of Engineering member Martin Winter), and subsequently worked in product development at SCHOTT Group in Germany and energy research at the University of Oxford, combining academic depth with industrial experience. Over 40% of the company's employees are R&D personnel. The company has established an R&D centre and an engineering technology centre at its Wuxi headquarters, as well as an R&D centre and a lab-scale/pre-pilot line in Suzhou. It has assembled more than 30 high-end sci-tech talents, including PhDs and master's degree holders, filed 25 invention patents (9 granted), and participated in formulating 3 industry standards for sodium-ion batteries. Capacity Layout and Industrialisation Nayuan New Materials has completed a leapfrog development of NFS materials from R&D to mass production: the 5 kt NFS mass production line in Jiangxi has achieved full capacity, while the 10 kt-level production line in Lu'an, Anhui is being accelerated. The company has sent samples to over 100 clients for testing and secured kt-level orders. Its products precisely cover scenarios including light-duty power (two-wheelers/three-wheelers), start-stop power supply, and UPS, while proactively expanding into high-end applications such as aircraft, robotics, energy storage, and AIDC backup power. Honours and Recognition In 2024, the company was recognised as a National High-tech Enterprise. At the 2nd China Sodium-ion Battery Conference, it won two awards (Technology Innovation Breakthrough Enterprise and Young Talent Award). Dr. Liu Zhongqing was honoured with the 20th Jiangsu May Fourth Youth Medal in 2026. Product application scenarios encompass light-duty power batteries, start-stop batteries, household ESS, and distributed ESS, meeting users' core demands for safety, long lifespan, and low cost. Long press 2026 SMM Battery Technology Conference

Outlook: Baosteel Ramps Up Production, Adding More Pressure to the Non-Oriented Silicon Steel Surplus Dilemma

On May 27, China Huaneng Group Co., Ltd. announced the shortlisted candidates for its 2026 energy storage system framework procurement. As one of China’s major state-owned power generation groups among the “Big Five and Small Six,” Huaneng’s latest framework tender totals 4GWh, with the agreement valid through March 31, 2027. The procurement covers energy storage systems required for infrastructure and operational projects across the group’s subsidiaries and regional companies.