Battery Terminal Market

On March 8, the official website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the 2nd batch of “Catalogue of Recommended Vehicle Types for Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles” in 2019. A total of 84 models were selected, including 83 pure electric products and only one plug-in hybrid product. According to the battery technology, there are 49 lithium iron phosphate batteries, accounting for 58%; 31 ternary batteries, accounting for 37%; 3 lithium manganate batteries, and 1 multi-component lithium battery. This time, the number of lithium iron phosphate batteries is double that of ternary batteries, which is also the reason for the high proportion of lithium iron phosphate batteries in the catalogue.

Upstream raw material prices:

Cobalt: Spot price of cobalt sulfate declined rapidly, low-price supply increased, aggravating market panic, downstream wait-and-see sentiment became stronger. The factory quotes about 55,000 yuan, and the actual transaction sticks to the 50,000 yuan/ton pass. Recent inquiries in the cobalt market have increased, but the intended price is low. It is far from the producer’s offer. The trading center in the buyer’s market has gradually moved down.

Lithium: The market mentality is generally pessimistic about the price of lithium salts. The downstream cathode material manufacturers adopt a small number of modes to purchase lithium carbonate, even long orders are not locked in order to prevent price changes. NEWS: On March 13, Altura announced its entry into commercial production. Its lithium concentrate, with a capacity of 220,000 tons, was first shipped out in October 18. In recent weeks, the production capacity has climbed to 84% of the design capacity, and has reached 95% since March. Gravity separation and flotation have been gradually optimized, and the recovery rate has increased from 57% to 67%, gradually approaching the target of 80%.

Positive Material: The market of lithium iron phosphate is warmer than that of the same period last year. Whether the start-up rate of lithium iron phosphate cathode material manufacturers is increasing, or the demand for lithium iron phosphate cathode materials in battery factories is increasing. Compared with long orders, spot transactions are less. Although the subsidy policy was introduced, the lithium iron phosphate cathode material factory said it did not feel that there was a significant change in purchasing for downstream battery factories.

On March 12, the rare earth index was 342 points, down 1 point from yesterday, down 65.80% from the cyclical peak of 1000 points (2011-12-06), and up 26.20% from the lowest point of 271 on September 13, 2015. (Note: Period refers to 2011-12-01 to date).

The average price of Neodymium in rare earth metals is 380,000 yuan per ton, dysprosium metal is 168,000 yuan per ton and praseodymium metal is 660,000 yuan per ton. The average price of praseodymium and neodymium oxide in rare earth oxides is 292.5 million yuan per ton, dysprosium oxide is 1.33 million yuan per ton, praseodymium oxide is 397.5 million yuan per ton and neodymium oxide is 297.5 million yuan per ton. The price of praseodymium and neodymium alloys in rare earth alloys is 377.5 million yuan per ton, and the average price of dysprosium and iron alloys is 1.33 million yuan per ton.

In recent years, the market of rare earth has been rising and falling mutually, the domestic rare earth market is cold, the price of most commodities in the rare earth market is stable, dysprosium and terbium varieties will be affected by the expectation that the market will be limited after the import of Myanmar mines. Market participants are more optimistic about the price of heavy and heavy rare earth. Holders are reluctant to sell them. Businessmen have increased their inquiries for dysprosium and terbium series products, and dysprosium and ferroalloy prices have increased, but neodymium and terbium alloys prices have increased. Series of products are in poor market, there is sufficient supply on the market, and prices continue to fall. The price fluctuation of rare earth market is related to environmental protection supervision in the whole country. Rare earth production has its particularity, especially the radiation hazard of some products, which makes environmental protection supervision stricter. Under stringent environmental protection, rare earth separation enterprises in many provinces have stopped production, resulting in a decline in the market of rare earth oxides, making the price of rare earth products firm. Especially for some mainstream rare earth oxides, the supply performance is tight, the price trend of some commodities in the rare earth market is stable, the willingness of large enterprise groups to limit production in the near future, the market of rare earth has improved, but for the pricing of products, major manufacturers are cautious to wait and see. Recent rare earth export market is general, resulting in normal import volume, but due to limited turnover, because rare earth has been at a low level for a long time.

Recently, the State Environmental Protection Department began to check strictly, which has a great impact on the rare earth industry. The rare earth industry has a low start and the market is cold. Prior to this, six departments of Jiangxi Province, a major producer of rare earth, jointly issued a special action document on cracking down on rare earth blacks. Due to the increasingly obvious regulatory effect, the supply of raw ore resources in the upstream of the rare earth industry has shrunk, and the trading market of the rare earth industry has been cold.

Rare earth analysts of business associations expect that the recent domestic environmental stringent inspection efforts will not decrease, coupled with the domestic reorganization of the order of the inhalation industry, which will provide some favorable support for the rare earth industry, but the rare earth industry turnover is cool, praseodymium and neodymium products are down, and the market price of rare earth is expected to remain low.

On March 11, the phthalic anhydride commodity index was 66.83, down 0.65 points from yesterday, down 44.37% from the peak of 120.13 points in the cycle (2012-02-28), and up 38.02% from the low of 48.42 points on January 21, 2016. (Note: Period refers to 2011-09-01 to date).

Recently, the domestic market price of phthalic anhydride has been slightly lower, the market of phthalic anhydride and phthalic anhydride in eastern China is weaker, downstream factories are in need of purchasing, factory inventory pressure continues, high-end transactions are blocked, the mainstream of on-site neighbouring source negotiations is 6600-6900 yuan/ton, the mainstream of naphthalene source negotiations is 6500-6600 yuan/ton; the mainstream quotation of phthalic anhydride market in northern China is 6500-6800 yuan/ton, the market is weak. The price of phthalic anhydride in China is stable, the spot supply of phthalic anhydride is normal, and the price of phthalic anhydride is declining.

Recently, the executive price of the upstream product of phthalic anhydride, Sinopec o-phthalic anhydride, is 6800 yuan/ton. The actual market transaction price is 7100 yuan/ton. The quotation is stable and the port is out of stock. Upstream raw materials mixed xylene price shocks maintain stability, phthalic turnover is general, port phthalic inventory is low, phthalic external quotation rises, import phthalic cost rises, the actual transaction price talks in detail, upstream price trend is stable, phthalic anhydride market prices remain volatile. DOP price downstream shocks. Recently, in Zhejiang DOP market, merchants’quotations are maintained at 8650-8700 yuan/ton, while downstream prices are at a low level. Demand for upstream phthalic anhydride is limited, and the market price of phthalic anhydride is slightly lower. It is expected that the market price of phthalic anhydride will be around 6800 yuan/ton in the later period.

On March 10, the hydrofluoric acid commodity index was 98.53, which was the same as yesterday. It was 29.84% lower than the peak of 140.43 points in the cycle (2018-02-21), and 83.86% higher than the low of 53.59 points on November 30, 2016. (Note: Period refers to 2011-09-01 to date)

According to statistics, the recent domestic hydrofluoric acid market price trend is temporarily stable, up to 11 days, the domestic hydrofluoric acid market price is 10858.33 yuan/ton, the domestic hydrofluoric acid start-up rate is more than 60%, enterprises reflect that the current spot supply of hydrofluoric acid is normal, the recent situation of on-site goods is general, some enterprises have increased hydrofluoric acid inventory, factory prices remain low, due to recent price shocks in the raw material market. The market price of hydrofluoric acid is stable for the time being. At present, the mainstream of hydrofluoric acid negotiations in the southern region is about 10,000-11,000 yuan/ton, while the price of hydrofluoric acid in the northern market is 10,500-11,000 yuan/ton. Domestic hydrofluoric acid market prices remain low, spot supply is sufficient, due to the recent upward trend in the raw material market, fluorite price trend is temporarily stable, for hydrofluoric acid has some favorable support, hydrofluoric acid market price trend is temporarily stable.

Recent downstream refrigerant product units started to rise, upstream fluorite and hydrofluoric acid demand has increased, the recent downstream refrigerant trading market is general, hydrofluoric acid product prices temporarily stable. Recent downstream refrigerant market transactions are cool, R22 refrigerant facility starts at 70%, R22 refrigerant facility start-up rate is temporarily stable, the main production enterprise’s bulk water ex-factory offer price rises to 18500-19000 yuan/ton, but there is no bulk water spot in the production enterprise, mainly a small number of cylinders shipped. In addition, the actual demand side of the market has risen, and the delivery market has risen. The domestic market price of R134a has risen slightly, the start-up rate of production enterprises has remained low, the refrigerant market demand is general, and the manufacturers mainly export their products. However, the on-site transaction price has not changed much. Businessmen purchase on demand. Recently, due to the improvement of the goods, the price trend of hydrofluoric acid market is temporarily stable.

Refrigerant on-site transactions have risen, refrigerant industry equipment start-up rate has increased, for the upstream hydrofluoric acid market demand may increase, coupled with the upstream fluorite price has an upward trend, March is the peak season of air conditioning production, the downstream refrigeration industry is expected to rise, Business Analyst Chen Ling believes that the hydrofluoric acid market may be slightly higher.

According to Hart Energy News, the latest analysis by Stratas Advisors shows that despite the slowdown in global gasoline sales growth, global gasoline demand is expected to continue to grow by 2020.

The number of newly registered vehicles is larger than that of scrapped vehicles. Stratas Advisors predicts that gasoline production will continue to grow as new gasoline production comes online in the next few years and as global refining capacity continues to invest and expand.

Christopher Brown, manager of Stratas Advisors Global Automotive Services, said: “In the short term, new registrations in the automotive industry are closely related to macroeconomic indicators. We have seen a slight decrease in the number of new car registrations in the world, and their economies have stabilized or begun to retreat.

He added: “Vehicle growth, power system changes and economic prospects will all affect gasoline demand across the country. Globally, vehicle dynamic changes tend to be slower than new vehicle registration, so slowing down new vehicle registration does not necessarily mean that the country’s total demand for gasoline is declining.