[SMM Analysis: Samsung SDI’s “Contrarian Big Bet” — 25 Trillion Won Staked on Next-Generation Batteries Could Rewrite Global Energy Landscape] Samsung SDI disclosed a regulatory filing on July 3, announcing an investment of approximately 16 trillion won (about 88 billion yuan) into its Ulsan plant by 2040, to build large-scale production sites for all-solid-state batteries, LFP batteries for ESS, and sodium-ion batteries. A day earlier (July 2), the company had announced an investment of 9 trillion won into its Cheonan plant, for setting up a mother production line for next-generation battery technology verification and R&D facilities. Combined, the two investments total 25 trillion won, spanning a period of 14 years and lasting until 2040.

Dinglong has filed an application for an H-share listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Alongside its semiconductor materials business, the company has continued to expand its presence in new energy materials. Earlier this year, Dinglong acquired a 70% stake in Shenzhen Haofei New Materials, a leading supplier of dispersants for lithium batteries used in electric vehicle and energy storage applications, further strengthening its lithium battery materials portfolio.

On June 30, at the 2026 Annual Forum of the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance, Ma Chunsheng, Director of the Automotive Development Division of the Equipment Industry Department I of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, delivered authoritative industry signals from the stage. The official stance clearly delineated the medium- and long-term technology breakthrough tracks, focusing on three core materials: lithium-rich manganese-based cathodes, silicon-based anodes, and solid-state electrolytes. The goal is to concentrate efforts on overcoming all-solid-state and high-specific-energy lithium batteries, using material innovation to solidify the competitive foundation of China's power battery industry.

[SMM Analysis: Surging Demand in H1 2026 Drives Industry Expansion, Anode Volume and Price Both Rise, Welcoming Recovery Opportunities] SMM July 3: In H1 2026, a surge in downstream demand drove steady improvement in the anode industry’s prosperity, significantly releasing overall market vitality.

[SMM EMM Weekly Review: Cost and Production Cuts Double Bottom Support, Off-Season Market Stabilizes in Narrow Range] This week, China's EMM market rebounded slightly and then entered a sideways movement channel. Spot quotations overall stabilized and consolidated. The futures market showed a stalemate pattern where both gains and losses were difficult, with the downside room for prices fully locked. Costs and the supply side formed a double bottom support, becoming the core driving force stabilizing the market......

[SMM Analysis: Anode-Free Sodium-Ion Battery Track Heats Up, Inpower Technology's Pre-A+ Round Outlines "Technology + Capital + Industry" Synergy] SMM, July 2: The sodium-ion battery track has witnessed another landmark event. Recently, Inpower Technology, an anode-free sodium-ion battery enterprise, announced the completion of its Pre-A+ funding round at the 100 million yuan level. This round was co-led by Qifu Capital and the Fudan Science and Technology Innovation Fund, with follow-on investments from Su Science and Technology Innovation, Xianghe Capital, and a global top-tier player in lead-acid batteries. Judging by the composition of investors, this funding round has transcended mere financial support, presenting a composite structure of triple empowerment: "technology endorsement + industrial resources + regional policies." This reflects that the sodium-ion battery industry is accelerating its shift from the technology verification phase to the large-scale volume ramp-up phase...

Following intensive project announcements in seven provinces and regions including Ningxia and Jiangxi, a new wave of lithium battery recycling projects has seen concentrated implementation in Hunan, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Hubei, Anhui, Shandong, and other areas. This batch of eight projects covers Huzhou, Wenzhou, and Changxing in Zhejiang, Taihe in Anhui (two sites), Lixian in Hunan, Yongping in Yunnan, Hanchuan in Hubei, and Linyi in Shandong. The planned annual processing capacity totals over 270,000 mt (excluding second-life applications and PV modules), with total investment exceeding 2.5 billion yuan. The categories cover end-of-life lithium battery packs, scrap electrodes, and second-life application production lines, further expanding the lithium battery recycling capacity footprint into the central-western and Yangtze River Delta hinterlands.

In H1 2026, lithium battery recycling capacity construction accelerated, with seven provinces and regions—Ningxia, Jiangxi, Hunan, Anhui, Sichuan, Hubei, and Xinjiang—collectively announcing environmental impact assessment documents for a batch of scrap lithium battery recycling and comprehensive utilization projects. These projects cover various types of scrap resources such as LFP, ternary battery packs, positive and negative electrodes, and wires and cables, showing a clear trend of lithium battery recycling expanding from eastern coastal regions to the inland areas of central and western China.

The supporting implementation rules for Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) Order No. 73 have been fully rolled out. The cost ceiling for repairing or replacing LFP batteries is set at 150 yuan/kWh, and for ternary lithium batteries at 180 yuan/kWh—meaning the once-common practice of "replacement instead of repair" costing tens of thousands of yuan has become a thing of the past. For the chemical and materials industry, however, a far more significant signal than the repair price cuts lies buried in another detailed rule: the residual value of end-of-life batteries belongs to the vehicle owner and can be transparently deducted from repair costs. What appears to be a consumer-friendly policy designed to benefit vehicle owners in fact installs a "compliant raw material engine" for the entire rare and precious metal recycling industry chain. In the past, large volumes of end-of-life batteries flowed into the black market due to opaque repair practices, causing valuable lithium, cobalt, and nickel resources to be lost in crude smelting processes. Now, for the first time, the ore veins of this "urban mine" are being systematically channeled through formal repair channels to compliant chemical recycling enterprises. From a resource strategy perspective, the improvement of the power battery repair and recycling system is essentially the construction of a flowing "urban mine." According to MIIT data, in 2024, China's comprehensive utilization of power batteries reached 301,000 mt, from which 2,000 mt of lithium metal, 2,000 mt of cobalt, and 5,000 mt of nickel were extracted, equivalent to 4%–7% of the resources required for power battery production during the same period. This proportion may appear modest, but the growth curve is extremely steep. The State Administration for Market Regulation estimates that by 2030, the market size of power battery recycling in China will surpass 100 billion yuan, at which point recycled metals will account for a substantially higher share of power battery raw material supply. Compared with the long process of ore mining, beneficiation, and smelting, battery regeneration and extraction technologies consume significantly less energy, generate markedly lower carbon emissions, and reduce dependence on imported ore resources. It is worth noting that the large-scale recycling of end-of-life LFP batteries is also accelerating. Although the LFP chemistry contains no high-value metals such as cobalt or nickel, the recovery value of the lithium element is becoming increasingly prominent. Institutions including the Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion under the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a Joule-heating shock-activated water leaching technology that has achieved a lithium leaching rate exceeding 99%, while the leaching tailings can be synergistically upgraded to produce high-energy-density cathode materials, further improving resource utilization efficiency across the entire system. Overall, this new maintenance regulation is not an isolated consumer-side policy but a critical link in the entire power battery recycling industry chain — front-end maintenance standardizes the export of end-of-life batteries, mid-end recycling ensures the collection of rare and precious metals, and back-end metallurgy achieves closed-loop resource regeneration. As compliance across the entire chain deepens, China’s circular supply capacity for rare and precious metals will continue to be released.

Korea Railroad Corporation, or KORAIL, announced on June 15 that it will restrict passengers from carrying items equipped with lithium batteries from July 1 to ensure passenger safety amid fire risks. Restricted items include all personal mobility devices powered by lithium batteries, such as electric scooters and electric bicycles, as well as portable large-capacity lithium batteries exceeding 160 Wh, including those used for broadcasting and camping.