China Li-ion Battery E-News(China Li-ion Battery E-News 201704)

April 2017 saw few changes in China’s Li-ion battery cell market. Although the sales of power Li-ion batteries in Q1 2017 were diappointing (due to poor sales of alternative energy vehicles), many power Li-ion battery manufacturers had relatively high operating rate to increase their stocks for a rally in the market.

- Cathode materials: In recent days, the prices of ternary materials were the same as before, and their sales were good. Most manufacturers said they were run at full capacity. The price of cobalt lost momentum, as seen from high price with mild declines. The price of lithium carbonate fluctuated slightly, because the demand from downstream industries did not change greatly. The price of lithium hydroxide seemed to increase in the future.

- Anode materials: A majority of suppliers said there were uptrends in the sales of anode materials, but the prices fell because the customers urged them to drop the prices. However, considering the prices of raw materials did not cut but remained stable, these manufacturers were not willing to bring down their prices anymore.

- Separators: The prices of separators changed slightly in a steady market. Shenzhen Senior Technology Material Co., Ltd., a leading enterprise in China’s separator industry, revealed that its supply of separators could not meet the demand. It is worth noting that its monthly capacity of dry-process and wet-process separators was about 11 million m² and 2.5 million m² respectively. Now, it is expanding its capacity of wet-process separators.

- Electrolyte: The electrolyte price dropped slowly, due to a decrease in the price of LiPF₆ (a raw material for electrolyte). Some electrolyte producers said the current demand for power Li-ion batteries are increasing, but still lower than that in Q1 2016. The demand for batteries for consumer electronics is steady.

The USD/RMB exchange rate in this newsletter is USD1.00=RMB6.8906 on 5 April, 2017, sourced from the People's Bank of China. All the prices mentioned in this newsletter will include the VAT, unless otherwise specified.

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