H1 2026 was the critical build-up phase — dense conferences, national standards, tech breakthroughs, capital inflows, and capacity rollouts. H2 will shift into "race mode": multiple solid-state/semi-solid vehicles launch, and the competitive landscape for 2027 volume production will be largely locked in by year-end.

On July 1, Choco-Swap, a subsidiary of CATL, announced that a total of 2,000 battery swap stations had been launched nationwide in the first half of the year. The network covers 180 cities across 31 provincial-level regions, with its coverage rate in small and medium-sized cities exceeding 80%. Its highway battery swap network has also achieved breakthrough development, expanding from clustered core cities to county-level markets. The first batch of battery swap stations in Hong Kong has officially entered full operation.

On June 30, CATL and J&T Express signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The two parties will promote the large-scale deployment of new energy heavy-duty trucks, light logistics vehicles, electric warehouse forklifts, and other logistics equipment, and jointly build green industrial parks to help the logistics industry reduce costs, improve efficiency, and achieve low-carbon transformation. CATL will provide a full suite of battery-swapping batteries, swap station equipment, and operation and maintenance services for over 5,000 heavy-duty trucks under J&T Express. The battery-swapping model can "fully recharge" a heavy-duty truck within 3 to 5 minutes, significantly reducing refueling time. In terms of ground integrated complexes, CATL will provide J&T Express with a full range of energy storage system products and services.

According to the official WeChat account of CATL's Chocolate Battery Swap, as of June 30, a total of 2,000 battery swap stations have been built nationwide, covering 180 cities across 31 provinces, with coverage in small and medium-sized cities exceeding 80%. According to the plan, the total number of Chocolate Battery Swap stations nationwide is set to reach 3,000, covering over 190 cities, with an increased density of stations along expressway trunk routes.

CATL has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with J&T Express to accelerate the deployment of new energy logistics vehicles, including electric heavy-duty trucks, light-duty trucks and warehouse forklifts. Under the agreement, CATL will provide battery-swapping batteries, swapping stations and operation and maintenance services for more than 5,000 trucks operated by J&T Express.

On June 29, the China Automotive Battery Industry Innovation Alliance and the Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance jointly issued the "Initiative on Regulating Supplier Payment Terms for Power and Energy Storage Battery Enterprises." The initiative focuses on procurement transactions between power and energy storage battery and system integrator companies and their suppliers, offering specific recommendations on order confirmation and modification, delivery and acceptance, payment and settlement, and contract duration. On the same day, several companies including CATL, FinDreams Battery, Sunwoda Power, EVE Energy, and Hyperstrong sequentially announced their support. An official from the First Department of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) stated that this initiative is an important step in implementing the "Regulation on Ensuring Payment to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises." It specifies requirements for order confirmation and modification, delivery and acceptance, and payment and settlement. For example, it stipulates that the acceptance period for materials and components should generally not exceed 7 working days; the payment cycle for SME suppliers should generally begin on the date of delivery or acceptance; it recommends that all payments to SMEs be made in cash; and it encourages both supply and demand parties to establish stable cooperative relationships and to sign long‑term framework agreements based on their existing cooperation.

On June 29, after the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance and the Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance jointly released the “Initiative on Standardizing Supplier Payment Practices for EV and ESS Battery Enterprises,” multiple top-tier players in the industry publicly responded and followed through, covering the core sectors of power batteries and energy storage integration. These included mainstream power battery producers such as CATL, FinDreams Battery, CALB, EVE, and SEVB.

World’s largest battery manufacturer, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), has officially commenced production at its battery manufacturing facility in the United States, established through a technical licensing agreement with Ford Motor Company.

June 26, at the 2026 SMM (14th) Minor Metal Industry Conference—Antimony Industry Forum, hosted by SMM Information & Technology Co., Ltd. (SMM) and with title sponsorship from Guangxi Yusheng Germanium High-tech Co., Ltd., , Luo Chengcai, General Manager of Hunan Hsikwangshan Twinkling Star Antimony Import & Export Co., Ltd., shared with participants the “Path of Transformation and Development for the Antimony Industry Amid Century-Long Changes.” I. Reshaping the Antimony Industry Landscape Amid Century-Long Changes Policy-driven: Export Controls Trigger Profound Market Fragmentation ►Markets outside China: Rapid Capacity Expansion Driven by High Prices Mine supply growing rapidly: The Santar mine in Myanmar has become a key variable, with monthly production reaching 1,000 mt of metal content and strong supply resilience. Smelting capacity deployment accelerates: Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam are rapidly boosting smelting capacity, with total ex-China capacity already reaching about 40,000 mt/year. Policy-driven: Supply-demand imbalance in the Chinese market Supply side extremely loose: In 2026, imports in the first four months alone have already matched the total for the full year 2025, creating unprecedented supply pressure on the market. Demand side highly competitive: Prices have fallen sharply. Geopolitical shocks: The Middle East war has caused irreversible damage ►Flame retardant industry: Short-term pain Bromine prices surged from 30,000 to 130,000/mt, petrochemical raw material prices jumped over 50%, and poor cost pass-through led to widespread industry losses, with production cuts of around 30%. ►Polyester industry: Under pressure from both costs and production Affected by wild swings in upstream petrochemical raw material prices, the industry's production costs have climbed sharply; with weak end-use demand, it was forced to cut production by about 30%, sharply increasing operating pressure. ►PV glass: Short-term cooling but long-term positive outlook Affected by the cancellation of module export tax rebates and uncertainties in the Indian market, short-term demand has weakened; however, the broader trend of global energy transition remains unchanged, and long-term growth potential persists. II. Opportunities Amid Crisis: New Opportunities for Transformation and Development Solid fundamentals: Consolidation and optimization in traditional sectors ►High-performance flame retardant materials Irreplaceability: Still cannot be effectively replaced in engineering plastics such as ABS and XPS. Market growth: China's annual demand for flame retardants reaches 1.5 million mt, with bromine-antimony flame retardants accounting for 35%, and demand is steadily increasing. ►Polyester industry Core catalyst: Over 90% of polyester units use antimony-based catalysts, securing a solid position. New growth areas: Industrial textiles are growing rapidly in sectors such as medical and new energy, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 10%. ►PV Glass Core Refining Agent: Holding over 80% market share, it delivers high efficiency with controllable costs. Strong Momentum Outside China: Driven by the global energy transition, demand in markets outside China remains robust, with countries such as India and Indonesia building plants on a large scale. Summary: The steady demand structure across the three traditional pillar sectors—flame retardants, polyester, and PV—combined with the continued expansion of emerging markets outside China, forms a solid and reliable foundation for the antimony industry. New Growth Driver: Condensed Matter Batteries, the biggest growth engine going forward ►Technical Pathway: Enterprises such as CATL are planning antimony-based sodium-ion batteries, in which the passenger vehicle segment will use a calcium-antimony composite material as the negative electrode. ►Demand Estimate: CATL has planned 60 GWh of capacity, with 24 GWh allocated to passenger vehicles. Calculated at 1,200 mt of antimony per GWh, annual demand could reach as much as 30,000 mt at full production. This represents a massive potential market. New Growth Driver: Rapid Growth in High-Value Applications ►AI Computing Power: The explosive growth of AI servers and data centers has driven antimony consumption in the semiconductor sector to over 2,000 mt. ►Military Sector: High-purity antimony is a critical material for infrared detection and missile guidance, commanding a price premium of 3 to 5 times. Against a backdrop of geopolitical conflicts, military-related orders surged 80% YoY. ►Lead-Acid Batteries: Used as a lead-antimony alloy in positive electrode grids, antimony significantly enhances battery performance. China's antimony consumption in this segment stands at approximately 13,000–15,000 mt, with global consumption at around 22,000 mt, providing a stable foundation. III. Value Normalization: Future Trends and Strategic Outlook Supply Side: Resource Constraints and Policy Regulation Become the New Normal ►Non-renewable resources and a tight supply are long-term trends China's domestic reserves are depleting and grades are declining, with production falling year by year. Incremental supply from outside China is limited and unstable. ►Domestic production restrictions and resource consolidation are the overriding trends The global static reserve-to-production ratio for antimony is less than 10 years, highlighting its strategic value. Strengthening environmental protection, implementing production restrictions, and promoting resource consolidation are the inevitable path for the nation. Market Mechanisms: Moving Toward Stability and Harmonious Coexistence Conclusions and Outlook • The antimony industry stands at a new historical starting point. Short-term market fluctuations and price pains are the necessary "drastic remedies" during the process of industrial restructuring. • We firmly believe that with the tightening of the supply side, the explosion of emerging demand, and the strategic emphasis at the national level, antimony's strategic value will be fully realized and will eventually return to its intrinsic worth in the tug-of-war between sellers and buyers. • Let us join hands and work together to propel the antimony industry toward a new era of stable, balanced, and high-quality development. The antimony industry is bound to have a bright future!

On June 25, the Leap Motor D99, the first MPV on Leap Motor's flagship D platform, was officially launched with a selling price of 249,800 to 319,800 yuan. As the flagship masterpiece embodying a decade of Leap Motor's accumulated full-stack in-house R&D technology, the new vehicle is the industry's first to feature dual Qualcomm 8797 central domain control chips built on a 4nm process, delivering a total computing power of 1,280 TOPS. It creates a cockpit-driving integrated super collaboration architecture, providing intelligent upgrade redundancy for the next five years. The Leap Motor D99 offers two powertrain options: range-extender and pure electric. The range-extender version is equipped with an 80.3 kWh range-extender-specific CATL LFP battery, offering a CLTC pure electric driving range of up to 480 km. The pure electric version features the world's first CATL molecular-level fusion super hybrid battery cell, with a battery capacity of 115 kWh and a CLTC pure electric driving range of 700 km. It adopts a full-stack 1,000 V high-voltage architecture, with peak fast charging power exceeding 460 kW, adding over 350 km of driving range with a 15-minute charge.