China Li-ion Battery E-News(China Li-ion Battery E-News 201803)

In March 2018, there was a peak season for the battery cell market. Influenced by the price rises of raw materials, some small-sized battery cell producers increased their prices by USD0.016 (RMB0.1) per battery cell whilst large producers like Shenzhen Zhuoneng New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. have not raised prices yet. As for the power Li-ion battery industry, less than 50% of major producers resumed production after the Spring Festival and some small-sized companies still suspended production in order to deplete their inventories that were replenished at the end of last year. On the whole, the power Li-ion battery’s operating rate remained low.

It is noteworthy that among 42 alternative energy passenger vehicles recommended by the MIIT on 14 March, only 1 is powered by LFP battery and more than 30 by ternary batteries. It is likely that alternative energy passenger vehicles will be totally powered by ternary batteries by the end of 2018.

- Cathode materials: The market demand for cathode materials was sluggish in March. Sales of LFP batteries were flat, and some producers intended to further reduce the sales because of a great amount of account receivables that have not been collected yet. Now, the industry’s operating rate is less than 30%, with the prevailing price of USD12,312.16/t–USD13,101.40/ (RMB78,000/t–RMB83,000/t).

- Anode materials: The anode material market remained stable, with sales climbing thanks to slow increases in the operating rate of downstream sectors. Although battery producers yearn for cheaper raw materials, the prices of anode materials remained high. Now, the power Li-ion battery industry’s operating rate is still low.

- Separator: Seeing increasing product sales, separator producers were optimistic about the market this year. It is generally believed that the separator price will go down in the future, because domestic separator producers initiated price wars at the beginning of 2018. Fiercer competition in the domestic separator industry will further reduce the gross profits on the separator business – the price of wet-process separator is predicted to fall by 10–15% in 2018.

- Electrolyte: The electrolyte market was steady, but its price showed a downtrend. Now, most battery producers are eager to fetch high prices for their products while some began to lower their product prices. The prevailing price of electrolyte drops to USD5,998.23/t–USD7,892.41/t (RMB38,000/t–RMB50,000/t), mainly because the LiPF₆ price falls by approximately USD2,367.72/t (RMB15,000/t).

The USD/RMB exchange rate in this newsletter is USD1.00=RMB6.3352 on 1 March., 2018, 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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