February 2026 coincided with the Chinese New Year holiday. Affected by holiday factors, production pace across core segments of China’s sodium-ion battery industry generally slowed, showing an “off-season reset” trend. From cathodes, anodes, and electrolyte to battery cells and end-users, production across all segments declined MoM to varying degrees, while YoY still maintained a certain degree of growth resilience.

In January 2026, the sodium-ion battery industry entered a special operational cycle ahead of the Chinese New Year, with the industry chain exhibiting dual characteristics of "pre-holiday stocking demand support" and "the arrival of the traditional production off-season." Coupled with the rise in lithium carbonate prices at the beginning of the year, which pushed up lithium battery cell costs, market attention and substitution logic for sodium-ion battery products were further strengthened.

As of Wednesday, SiMn 6517 (cash) in the northern market was priced at 5,550–5,560 yuan/mt, flat WoW; in the southern market, SiMn 6517 (cash) was priced at 5,600–5,650 yuan/mt, up 20 yuan WoW. This week, the domestic SiMn alloy market remained under pressure overall, continuing its volatile trend. Manganese ore prices remained high and consolidated, with firm prices providing core cost support and gradually narrowing the downside room. However, downstream steel mills adopted a strategy of pushing for lower prices. Amid supply-demand negotiations, the SiMn market showed a stalemate pattern.

According to the latest SMM survey data, China's NdFeB magnetic material production in September 2025 was 29,106 mt, down 1.66% MoM. The overall industry operating rate was 68.1%, down 4.14 percentage points MoM. More critically, production in October is expected to further decline to 27,648 mt, down approximately 5% MoM, reflecting the multiple pressures currently facing the magnetic material industry.

[Zinc oxide producers resume production, operating rates rise slightly] This week, the operating rate of zinc oxide producers was recorded at 56.13%, up 0.15% MoM. On the raw material side, although zinc prices declined this week, current end-use demand remains average. Coupled with the relatively difficult procurement of some raw materials, enterprises' raw material inventories this week were basically flat compared to last week. On the finished product inventories side, despite the decline in zinc prices, some enterprises recently completed equipment maintenance, and downstream players remained cautious due to average demand. As a result, finished product inventories also saw no significant changes...