2021 LIFEPO4 Market Price Trend

On November 25, Shanghai Nonferrous Network data showed that the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate exceeded 200,000 yuan/ton for three consecutive days, setting a record high, an increase of 359.8% from 43,500 yuan/ton in the same period last year. However, the previous hot lithium battery index had a correction that day, closing at 1674.42 points, a decrease of 0.31%. With the rising popularity of the lithium battery “race track”, industry giants have strengthened their layout by grabbing resources and expanding production capacity. Even some giants in other industries have tried to “cross-border” a piece of the pie, from the performance of the secondary market and related issues. According to the department’s attention, the “expansion” of the lithium battery territory of some companies has not yet received positive feedback. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other relevant departments have also taken active actions to further strengthen the management of the lithium-ion battery industry and promote the transformation and upgrading of the industry and technological progress.

Supply exceeds demand, and the price of lithium battery materials is rising all the way

According to data from Shanghai Nonferrous Networks, on November 25, the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate exceeded 200,000 yuan/ton for three consecutive days, an increase of 359.8% from 43,500 yuan/ton in the same period last year, and an increase of 277.4% year-to-date.

Data show that since the end of last year, the price of lithium batteries has been rising all the way. The industry believes that, on the one hand, it is due to the expansion of demand-the rapid growth of the new energy vehicle market boosts the market’s demand for lithium batteries; on the other hand, it is due to the reduction in supply-lithium itself is a rare metal, and global lithium mines Last year, the production capacity contraction after the suspension of production and merger, coupled with the impact of the epidemic, caused the supply of lithium battery raw materials to be tight. Whether its mining situation in the next few years can keep up with the demand for new energy vehicles is one of the key factors for the entire new energy vehicle industry chain from sales to profit.

UFO Power has started strategic reserves since last year. The market price will maintain a low price in 2020 in the first half of 2021 to ensure the profits of energy storage battery customers. Following the power curtailment policy of the state’s manufacturing enterprises, after the market price is strictly controlled, the sales price still has to be increased.

The Huaxi Securities Research Report believes that the overall increase in global hard rock lithium resources in the next two years is very limited. If the increase in concentrates from non-market sales of Greenbush Mine is deducted, the raw materials of concentrates that can be provided to global lithium salt processing plants The increase is more limited, and most lithium salt processing plants will face a shortage of raw materials.

Upstream grabs resources, midstream expands production capacity, and many lithium battery giants will increase

The rise in raw material prices has urged the lithium battery giants to speed up the pace of “buying resources”. On the evening of November 24th, Li-ion battery and related materials production and research company Duo Fluoride issued a plan for non-public issuance of A shares, and it plans to raise no more than 5.5 billion yuan. Among them, 4.4 billion yuan will be used for the annual production of 100,000 tons of new electrolyte lithium salt projects, including the construction of production lines with an annual output of 80,000 tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate, 10,000 tons of lithium bisfluorosulfonimide and 10,000 tons of lithium difluorophosphate.

The giants also add positive and negative materials for lithium batteries, electrolytes and other links. CATL supplier Defang Nano issued a plan for issuing stocks to specific targets in 2021, stating that the company intends to privately issue no more than 26.768 million shares to no more than 35 specific investors, and it is expected to raise no more than 3.2 billion yuan; of which 23 RMB 100 million will be invested in a new phosphate-based cathode material production base project with an annual output of 110,000 tons, and RMB 900 million will be used to supplement working capital.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, the upward momentum tends to be flat, and it is predicted that the price of LFP lithium batteries will increase slightly in the first quarter of 2022.