Truneng New Energy Secures Another Major Energy Storage Order!

Amidst the current market focus on 2025 performance and rankings, Chuneng New Energy not only delivered impressive 2025 results but also secured a major new order.

On the evening of January 16th, Chuneng New Energy announced that it had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Egyptian local companies WeaCan and Kemet at its global headquarters, aiming to deepen collaboration in the Egyptian energy storage market.

Chuneng New Energy Chairman Dai Deming and Kemet Board Chairman Ahmed Salaheldin Abdelwahab Elabd signed the agreement on behalf of their respective companies. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Egyptian government representatives, including Moustafa Kamal Esmat Mahmoud, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy of the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity, as well as senior executives from related enterprises.

According to the agreement, WeaCan and Kemet, as key facilitators for project implementation, will leverage their extensive local industry resources and mature project operation experience in Egypt. They will be fully responsible for application scenario, government approval coordination, grid connection support, and localized operation services, providing a solid foundation for the large-scale deployment of Chuneng’s energy storage products. As the core technology and product supplier, Chuneng will supply a total of 6GWh of high-quality energy storage products in phases, ensuring their safe and stable operation within the Egyptian power system, while offering full-cycle technical support services.

It is reported that Egypt, located on the eastern edge of the Sahara Desert, enjoys abundant solar and wind energy year-round, providing natural conditions for developing “photovoltaic, wind power + energy storage.” In recent years, Egypt has actively promoted energy structure transformation, explicitly aiming to increase the share of renewable energy generation to 42% by 2030. The country has already completed several hundred-megawatt-level energy storage demonstration projects and plans to add over 10GWh of grid-side energy storage capacity. With market demand rapidly expanding, the energy storage industry is poised to enter a period of high-speed growth.

Chuneng New Energy stated that this procurement cooperation for 6GWh of energy storage products not only marks a significant breakthrough for the company in the North African market but also represents a concrete practice of green energy cooperation between China and Egypt under the framework of the “Belt and Road” initiative. Upon completion, the project will effectively enhance the local grid’s peak shaving and frequency regulation capabilities, promote the large-scale grid integration and consumption of clean energy such as photovoltaics, and assist Egypt in building a more flexible, reliable, and low-carbon new power system.

Background information shows that Chuneng New Energy was established in August 2021 in Xiaogan City, Hubei Province. It focuses on the R&D, production, and sales of new energy storage batteries, power batteries, and energy management systems.

In the energy storage sector, Chuneng’s energy storage business has reached over 60 countries and regions worldwide. Specifically, the company has established four core regional service centers globally, covering China, Europe, North America, and Australia, forming a localized service support system that radiates worldwide. This enables comprehensive lifecycle service coverage, from product delivery to technical consulting, installation and commissioning, and operational maintenance support.

Regarding its 2025 performance, statistics show that Chuneng New Energy achieved an annual shipment volume exceeding 90GWh in 2025, with its brand’s international influence continuing to rise!

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Enjie Co., Ltd.: Wet-process separator capacity utilization remains high, with demand growth expected by 2026.

On January 14, Enjie Co., Ltd. announced updates regarding its all-solid-state battery materials. Its subsidiary, Hunan Enjie Advanced New Material Technology Co., Ltd., focuses on developing high-purity lithium sulfide, sulfide solid-state electrolytes, and related membranes. The company has completed a pilot line for high-purity lithium sulfide and started operations on a 10-ton solid-state electrolyte production line, which is now ready for shipments. Future expansion will depend on market demand.

Enjie noted that the price of lithium sulfide has room to fall as technology, processes, and the supply chain mature, and as production scales up. For instance, if manufacturers using the hydrogen sulfide or sulfur source routes solve their scaling challenges, costs will decrease. Enjie’s own carbon thermal reduction method also scales well, and larger production volumes will lower costs further.

The domestic equipment market is mature. Existing equipment can produce sulfide solid-state electrolytes with only customized modifications for sulfide properties. There are no major equipment bottlenecks. Regarding capacity, the company currently operates a 10-ton annual production line for electrolytes. It will time any expansion according to downstream demand.

Lithium sulfide production follows three main routes:

  1. Solid-phase (carbon thermal reduction): Safe and suitable for mass production. It can use modified lithium iron phosphate production equipment and is compatible with cathode material production. A drawback is incomplete reduction of carbon and lithium sulfate.

  2. Gas-phase: Features low reaction temperature and a simple process. However, hydrogen sulfide is flammable, toxic, and explosive. Equipment needs custom design similar to silicon-carbon anode lines, making scaling difficult.

  3. Liquid-phase: Can use retrofitted solid-phase or electrolyte equipment. Downsides include solvent evaporation, strict environmental approval for toxic solvents like NMP, and high residual solvent content.

Wet-process separator capacity utilization remains high due to strong demand, especially from the energy storage market. Enjie is committed to supplying high-quality separators and services globally. The company expects wet-process separator demand to grow through 2026, alongside rising needs for energy storage and power batteries.

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Xizi Clean Energy’s Net Profit Excluding Non-recurring Gains to Surge Up to 95% in 2025, Bolstered by Energy Storage Business

Xizi Clean Energy Releases 2025 Performance Forecast: Net Profit Excluding Non-recurring Gains Jumps Over 50%

On the evening of January 14, 2026, Xizi Clean Energy Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Xizi Clean Energy”) released its 2025 Annual Performance Forecast. The forecast covers the period from January 1 to December 31, 2025.

Financial Highlights

Data shows the company’s expected net profit attributable to listed company shareholders for the year ranges from 400 million yuan to 439 million yuan. This represents a year-on-year decrease of 0.18% to 9.05%, compared with 439.7876 million yuan in the same period last year.
However, the net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses is projected at 220 million yuan to 280 million yuan. This marks a substantial year-on-year increase of 53.3% to 95.11%, up from 143.5058 million yuan in the prior year.

Reasons for Performance Changes

The announcement explained the factors driving the performance changes:
Non-recurring Gains and Losses: In 2025, the company’s non-recurring gains and losses mainly came from the net proceeds of one-off government relocation compensation. Hangzhou Hangguo Industrial Boiler Co., Ltd. received this compensation. The amount was lower than the one-off gains from transferring equity in Zhejiang Kesheng Technology Co., Ltd. in 2024.
Core Operations: The company strengthened quality control over sales orders. This led to a continuous increase in the gross profit margin of its main business compared with the same period last year.
Furthermore, the company enhanced the management of accounts receivable and inventory. This reduced the total occupation of working capital and significantly improved net cash inflow from operating activities.
In addition, the company’s provision for expected credit losses and asset impairment losses decreased year-on-year. These factors together drove the substantial growth in net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses.

Company Profile

Xizi Clean Energy mainly engages in consulting, R&D, production, sales, installation and general contracting of products. These products include waste heat boilers and clean energy power generation equipment.
The company provides customers with energy-saving and environmental protection equipment, as well as comprehensive energy utilization solutions.
It is China’s largest and most comprehensive research, development and manufacturing base for waste heat boilers. It also holds the titles of National Enterprise Technology Center and National High-tech Enterprise. Its product design, manufacturing processes and market share all rank among the top in the industry.
In the new energy sector, Xizi Clean Energy’s main businesses include zero-carbon factories, electrochemical energy storage, hydrogen fuel cells and molten salt energy storage.
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Lithium Prices Soar, but Midstream Giants Hit “Pause”! Coincidence or Strategy?

Recently, the lithium carbonate market has presented a complex picture of “ice and fire.” On one side, futures and spot prices continue their strong upward trend with high market sentiment; on the other side, major iron phosphate (LFP) cathode material manufacturers, including Hunan Yuneng, Wanrun New Energy, Defang Nano, and Anda Technology, have successively disclosed plans for maintenance and production cuts lasting one month. Why does this divergence exist where the upstream raw material sector is “hot” while the midstream materials sector is “cold”? Is the timing of these maintenance shutdowns a coincidence or a deliberate move?
01
Price Surge and “Two Worlds” in the Industry Chain
On December 26th, lithium carbonate prices achieved a landmark breakthrough. On that day, the Guangzhou Futures Exchange lithium carbonate main contract strongly stood above the 130,000 CNY/ton mark, hitting an intraday high of 130,800 CNY/ton, a new high in nearly two years, with a cumulative increase of nearly 70% for the year. The spot market closely followed, with battery-grade lithium carbonate quotes rising in tandem and market trading remaining active.
The fundamental driver supporting this round of market movement lies in the explosive demand. The energy storage market has become a new growth engine. According to data from GGII, China’s total energy storage lithium battery shipments are expected to exceed 580 GWh in 2025, a year-on-year increase of over 75%. Overseas, the U.S. “Big and Beautiful Act” enacted in July serves as a catalyst. To circumvent the policy impacts of “strict restrictions on Foreign Entities of Concern (FEOC)” and the “early termination of solar/wind tax credits” within the Act, relevant manufacturers are eager to commence construction within 2025 to lock in project subsidies. Meanwhile, large-scale energy storage project plans in Europe, Saudi Arabia, and other regions have led to a surge in installation demand, resulting in a situation where high-end battery cells are “hard to find.” Furthermore, demand for power batteries in China remains strong. From January to November 2025, domestic NEV sales reached 12.466 million units, a year-on-year increase of 23.2%, with market penetration historically breaking the 50% mark in October and continuing to grow. Battery companies are operating at full capacity, and some automakers have even stationed personnel at battery factories to wait for goods to ensure supply.
However, amidst the prosperous situation of hot upstream raw materials and strong downstream battery orders, four leading LFP cathode material companies in the midstream of the industry chain have collectively reduced production. From the evening of December 25th to the 26th, four major LFP enterprises, including Hunan Yuneng, Wanrun New Energy, Defang Nano, and Anda Technology, successively released announcements regarding production cuts for maintenance. The timing is concentrated at the end of 2025 to the beginning of 2026, with a maintenance cycle of one month each. Among them, Wanrun New Energy expects to reduce LFP production by 5,000 to 20,000 tons; Hunan Yuneng expects to reduce phosphate cathode material production by 15,000 to 35,000 tons; Anda Technology expects to reduce LFP production by 3,000 to 5,000 tons; Defang Nano announced that partial equipment maintenance will commence on January 1, 2026, for approximately one month. Overall, excluding Defang Nano, the combined production reduction scale of the three enterprises ranges from 23,000 to 60,000 tons. Such a synchronized scale of production cuts has attracted significant market attention.
02
The Timing of Maintenance: Coincidence or Deliberate?
In fact, the most direct and indisputable trigger for this concentrated maintenance action is the objective need for equipment maintenance after long-term full-load production.
Since 2025, the explosive demand for NEVs and energy storage has driven a surge in LFP demand, keeping the capacity utilization rate of leading enterprises in a state of oversaturation. Hunan Yuneng’s announcement stated that “capacity utilization has exceeded 100% since the beginning of the year,” Wanrun New Energy mentioned that “the company’s LFP production lines have been operating at overload since the fourth quarter,” and Defang Nano and Anda Technology also face equipment maintenance pressure due to high-intensity production throughout the year. From a conventional perspective, year-end maintenance is an industry practice. Long-term full-load production accelerates the wear and tear of core equipment (such as reactors and calcination furnaces). Regular maintenance aims to provide necessary upkeep and technical transformation to avoid failure risks and ensure stable and efficient production in the coming year.
However, industry insiders claim that the collective maintenance by LFP manufacturers is more motivated by the pursuit of rebalancing interests within the industry chain.
As the core raw material for LFP, lithium carbonate prices have continued to rise since June 2025, with spot prices for battery-grade lithium carbonate rising from 60,000 CNY/ton to over 120,000 CNY/ton, directly pushing up the production costs of cathode materials. Meanwhile, LFP processing fees have long been compressed below 15,000 CNY/ton, falling short of the industry average cost line (15,700 – 16,400 CNY/ton). This scissors effect of “rising costs but stagnant processing fees” has led to widespread losses among enterprises. In the first three quarters of 2025, Defang Nano’s gross profit margin was -2.13%, and Wanrun New Energy’s was only 1.7%. A relevant person from a listed LFP company stated that the industry has been in consecutive losses for nearly three years.
On a deeper level, this reflects a mismatch between the industry’s capacity cycle and the demand cycle. After the expansion wave in previous years, a large amount of production capacity has accumulated in the cathode material segment. When demand recovery first drives upstream resource prices to soar, the midstream segment, due to fierce competition and weak bargaining power, sees its overcapacity amplify cost shocks, and profits are sharply compressed in the industry chain redistribution. In a context where raw material prices continue to rise but cost pressures cannot be smoothly transmitted downstream, production essentially means losses. Therefore, taking the initiative to reduce production has become a rational choice for enterprises to cope with losses and reduce cash flow hemorrhage. The nearly synchronous maintenance by leading enterprises essentially forms industry coordination, aiming to support market prices by collectively contracting supply in the short term. Under these circumstances, reducing operating rates transforms from passive operational pressure into an active market “tactic”—its core intention is to create key space for subsequent price negotiations through phased supply contraction. As the head of an industry association put it, this is a “measure of last resort.” Therefore, the concentrated maintenance by leading enterprises is also intended to strengthen bargaining chips for price increase negotiations with downstream battery cell manufacturers. It is understood that the industry has already initiated a second round of price increases, with mainstream enterprises planning to raise processing fees by 2,000 to 3,000 CNY/ton. If implemented, this will significantly improve profitability.
This seemingly independent “tactic” actually resonates with moves in the upstream. Recently, upstream miner Tianqi Lithium, observing a “continuous and significant deviation” between traditional quotes from platforms like SMM and spot/futures prices, which it believes poses a challenge to operations, adjusted its pricing benchmark. This reflects a scramble for dominance over a fairer pricing system. The collective production cuts by midstream enterprises are a response to upstream demands for cost transmission. Seemingly different moves by upstream and downstream ultimately converge, aiming to jointly promote the return of product prices to a level of “cost + reasonable profit.”
03
Future Outlook: High-Level Volatility and Reshaping of the Industry Chain
Looking ahead at the subsequent trend of lithium carbonate prices, experts point out that the market will enter a new phase of complex game between bullish and bearish factors. It is expected that the price center will fluctuate at a high level, while the internal structure of the industry chain faces reshaping. Short-term prices still receive solid support from several key factors at the industrial level.
Cathode material factories reducing production to support prices is expected to facilitate the downward transmission of lithium price increases. SMM analysis points out that although leading LFP enterprises have initiated a second round of negotiations for price increases recently, the first round for most other material factories has not yet been finalized. Downstream battery cell factories have generally recognized the pressure brought by raw material price increases, but the actual implementation of price hikes still awaits further negotiation results. If subsequent price increases by cathode material factories are finalized, it will be more conducive to the downward transmission of lithium price increases, opening up upward space. At the same time, Tianqi Lithium’s adjustment of its pricing benchmark also corroborates the strong downstream demand.
The industry’s high prosperity continues, and lithium carbonate inventories remain low consecutively. According to survey data from Top 20 battery factories by TD Tech, China’s lithium battery (energy storage + power + consumer) market production scheduling total for January 2026 is approximately 210 GWh, a month-on-month decrease of 4.5%, performing better than market expectations. According to SMM data, the total weekly inventory of lithium carbonate as of December 25, 2025, was 109,800 tons, a month-on-month decrease of 652 tons, marking the 19th consecutive week of destocking, while inventory levels hit a new low since February 20, 2025.
Energy storage demand is also boosting expectations, and the supply-demand pattern is expected to improve in 2026. Benefiting from declining costs, policy-driven expansion of peak-valley price spreads, and the introduction of capacity electricity prices or compensation policies in some domestic provinces, the rate of return on domestic energy storage is expected to increase, thereby driving demand. According to Xinluo Consulting statistics, global energy storage lithium battery shipments reached 620 GWh in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 77%, and are expected to reach 960 GWh in 2026, a year-on-year increase of 54.8%. From a capital expenditure perspective, capital expenditures of major global lithium mining companies have shown an inflection point decline since 2024, corresponding to a potential slowdown in supply growth from new or expanded projects in 2026 and 2027. Energy storage taking over from electric vehicles is expected to become the second growth curve for lithium demand, and the supply-demand pattern is expected to improve in 2026.
However, the room for further significant upward movement in prices is also subject to clear constraints. First, supply elasticity will gradually emerge. When prices stabilize at 130,000 CNY/ton and above, enthusiasm for resuming production of marginal capacity, such as mica (mica lithium extraction), which was previously suspended due to high costs, will increase, and overseas imports may also rise. Second, the “ceiling” effect of downstream affordability. The current predicament of midstream enterprises has already sounded an alarm. If lithium prices continue to rise unilaterally and rapidly, it will seriously erode the profits of the entire mid-to-downstream manufacturing industry and eventually backfire on demand. This negative feedback mechanism will inhibit price increases.
Synthesizing institutional views, in the short term, lithium carbonate prices will likely maintain high-level operation. The key observation points for the trend lie in the industrial production scheduling plans for January 2026 and downstream acceptance of current prices. In the long run, this round of volatility may accelerate the optimization of the industry chain structure. Large-scale material enterprises with integrated lithium resource layouts and deep binding to high-quality customers will see their risk resistance capabilities and cost advantages become increasingly prominent. The entire industry is expected to shift from simple competition based on production capacity scale to a comprehensive contest of supply chain stability, technological iteration speed, and cost control capabilities. A healthier and more resilient lithium battery ecosystem requires the establishment of a more reasonable and transparent mechanism for profit sharing and risk co-sharing between upstream and downstream.
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Doubled in Six Months, Nearing 150,000 Yuan per Ton! Behind the Soaring Lithium Prices, the Battery Industry Is Transforming

At the beginning of 2026, lithium carbonate futures once again captured attention with a sustained price surge. On January 9, the main contract for lithium carbonate closed at 143,420 yuan per ton, accumulating an increase of over 120% from the low of 59,900 yuan per ton on June 5, 2025, marking a new high since November 2023.

This price, approaching the 150,000 yuan per ton mark, has become the most notable “price anchor” in the new energy industry chain, directly impacting both upstream and downstream sectors.

Short-Term Supply Shortage and Full-Throttle Demand Drive Lithium Prices Upward

“The demand from 2025 to now can be described as full throttle: new energy vehicle sales have grown by over 30% year-on-year, power battery installations have increased by more than 40%, and the energy storage market has become an absolute dark horse, with domestic project bidding volumes doubling and overseas orders surging simultaneously. Its production share is catching up to that of power batteries, and leading companies have already filled their order books into 2026,” remarked a capital market analyst regarding the driving factors behind this round of lithium carbonate price increases.

In the view of one industry insider, a mismatch between supply and demand has further intensified short-term supply tightness. “On January 4 this year, the State Council issued a document proposing, in principle, no further approvals for mineral processing projects without self-owned mines or supporting tailings utilization and disposal facilities. Key expansion projects such as Ganfeng Lithium’s Cauchari-Olaroz salt lake lithium extraction project in Argentina and Tianqi Lithium’s second-phase project in Suining, Sichuan, are still ramping up and are unable to contribute significant supply in the short term. Additionally, concentrated maintenance at lithium iron phosphate (LFP) enterprises before the Chinese New Year led to production reductions.”

Furthermore, the “Solid Waste Comprehensive Management Action Plan” released by the State Council on December 27, 2025, added another layer of policy constraints on industry costs, potentially further raising operational expenses for companies in the near term. On January 7 this year, four ministries including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) jointly held a symposium to address irrational competition in the lithium battery industry, explicitly emphasizing strict control over redundant construction and curbing low-price dumping. This policy direction has shifted market expectations regarding industry overcapacity, further fueling the rise in lithium prices.

Rising Raw Material Prices Prompt Top Battery Firms to Lock in Costs with Long-Term Agreements

In response to rising raw material prices, battery manufacturers are taking various countermeasures. Some leading companies have already announced price adjustments. For instance, Suzhou Dejia Energy Technology Co., Ltd. recently announced a 15% price increase for its battery product series.

More importantly, a supply chain restructuring centered on “long-term agreements” is unfolding, making the differentiation within the battery industry chain increasingly pronounced. Leading companies, leveraging their scale advantages and supply chain control, are building competitive moats by signing long-term agreements with price linkage clauses to lock in costs.

Current long-term contracts in the industry generally move away from rigid fixed-price models, adopting dynamic pricing mechanisms such as “linked to the SMM index + cost range,” allowing price fluctuations of 10% to 15%, and incorporating flexible volume adjustment clauses to cope with market volatility.

An industry insider gave examples: The supplementary agreement between Longpan Technology and Chuneng New Energy stipulates total sales exceeding 45 billion yuan from 2025 to 2030, while Tianci Materials has committed to supplying 725,000 tons of electrolyte to CALB from 2026 to 2028. Such large-scale long-term agreements typically include technology binding and price linkage clauses.

Difficulty Entering Core Supply Chains Accelerates Shakeout of Smaller Battery Firms

An industry analyst pointed out that this deep binding model ensures resource supply for leading battery companies while excluding second- and third-tier battery manufacturers from core supply chains, signaling an impending new round of industry consolidation.

“Medium to long term, the massive demand from the global new energy vehicle and energy storage markets will accelerate the exit of low-quality capacity, driving resources and orders to concentrate among leading and vertically integrated enterprises,” the analyst noted. “The proportion of profitable enterprises in the LFP sector is only 16.7%, significantly lower than other core lithium battery materials like ternary cathode and anode materials. From 2023 to Q3 2025, five listed LFP companies accumulated losses exceeding 10.9 billion yuan.”

In 2025, the CR10 (combined market share of the top ten companies) in China’s battery industry increased from 65% to 75%, with leading firms expanding their market share through mergers and acquisitions. Small and medium-sized manufacturers with annual production capacity below 5 GWh are being phased out at an accelerated pace, while the CR5 of leading companies surpassed 50%.

Recently, Salt Lake Co., Ltd. disclosed an asset acquisition plan, proposing to acquire a 51% stake in Wukuang Salt Lake from its controlling shareholder, China Salt Lake, for 4.605 billion yuan in cash. A week earlier, Chengxin Lithium Group announced plans to acquire a 30% stake in Qicheng Mining through its wholly-owned subsidiary for 2.08 billion yuan in cash. These M&A activities indicate that lithium mineral resources are once again becoming highly sought after.

“This is not a short-term speculative-driven trend, but a systematic value reassessment based on genuine supply and demand, cost structures, and industry influence,” commented one industry insider. “Companies possessing resource barriers, technological depth, production discipline, and customer loyalty are transitioning from ‘price takers’ to ‘rule co-creators.'”

Sodium-Ion Battery Substitution Heats Up in Mid-to-Low-End Energy Storage and Light-Duty Power Applications

Soaring lithium prices are also acting as a “catalyst” for technological iteration, driving the battery industry toward diversification. In mid-to-low-end energy storage and light-duty power applications, sodium-ion batteries, leveraging their “lithium-free” advantage, have achieved mass production, becoming an important alternative to LFP batteries.

Compared to lithium batteries, sodium-ion batteries offer stable material costs, as sodium accounts for 2.3% of the Earth’s crust, and its extraction cost is only 1/20th that of lithium. The cost of cathode material (copper iron manganese oxide) for sodium-ion batteries is 35% lower than that of LFP, and anode material (hard carbon) cost is 40% lower. Additionally, sodium-ion batteries exhibit excellent low-temperature performance, maintaining over 90% capacity at -20°C, perfectly suiting application scenarios like energy storage in extremely cold regions.

Looking back at 2025, investment enthusiasm in the sodium-ion battery sector already surpassed that in solid-state batteries. According to incomplete industry statistics, 28 announced projects with disclosed investment amounts totaled approximately 61.5 billion yuan. Among these, three projects involved investments over 5 billion yuan, and 18 projects had investments exceeding 1 billion yuan. Southwest and East China emerged as primary hubs, planning capacities of 81 GWh and 78 GWh, respectively.

Entering 2026, sodium-ion batteries have reached the critical stage of “capacity ramp-up and market validation.” CATL’s sodium-ion batteries have been installed in batches in models from Chery and Jianghuai, and are penetrating the residential energy storage sector. Penghui Energy’s sodium-ion battery shipments are steadily increasing in the residential energy storage and portable power market. HiNa Battery, leveraging its GWh-level capacity, is solidifying its technological advantage in regional energy storage projects.

Solid-State Battery Development Accelerates; Industry Expects Mass Production Around 2030

It is noteworthy that solid-state batteries, once highly anticipated for their “lithium-free” potential, actually exhibit increased lithium dependency. Industry data shows that lithium usage in solid-state batteries across different technological pathways significantly exceeds that of LFP batteries: sulfide/oxide solid-state batteries require approximately 850 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) per GWh, 1.5 times that of LFP batteries (567 tons/GWh); semi-solid-state lithium metal batteries use 1,088 tons LCE/GWh, 1.8 times that of LFP; and all-solid-state lithium metal batteries require up to 1,906 tons LCE/GWh, 3.4 times that of LFP.

Regarding commercialization progress, Qingtao Energy achieved trial production for its solid-state battery-specific materials project in July 2025, with a total planned capacity of 65 GWh, and has established deep partnerships with automakers like SAIC and GAC. Weilan New Energy’s second-generation semi-solid-state batteries achieved mass production in 2025, with plans for all-solid-state battery small-batch installation in vehicles by 2027.

In contrast, early-stage R&D-focused battery companies face greater fundraising difficulties, as capital increasingly favors projects with mature technology and proven production capabilities, making the industry’s “Matthew Effect” more pronounced.

According to industry experts, mass production of solid-state battery technology is expected around 2030. Although its development will further increase lithium resource demand, high lithium prices also provide impetus for the industry to develop and promote technological routes with relatively lower lithium dependency.

Against the backdrop of lithium carbonate prices approaching 150,000 yuan per ton, the new energy industry chain is undergoing unprecedented restructuring. “When the lithium carbonate price curve turns upward, what truly deserves attention is not the increase itself, but who can transform this price surge into sustainable profits and competitiveness in the new cycle,” interpreted one capital investment analyst. The fluctuation in lithium carbonate prices is not merely an industry “price war”; it is also an accelerator for the sector’s transition from “resource-driven” to “technology-driven.” In this process, only those companies possessing genuine technological strength, resource control, and cost advantages can seize the opportunity in the new cycle.

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Including Multi-Billion-Dollar Projects! Major Overseas Lithium Battery Projects See New Developments in Recent Month

Global Lithium-ion Battery Shipments to Reach 1.899 TWh in 2025; Major Overseas Projects Update
According to the “White Paper on the Development of China’s Lithium-ion Battery Industry (2025)” jointly released by research institutions EVTank, Evidi Economic Research Institute, and the China Battery Industry Research Institute, global lithium-ion battery shipments reached 1545.1 GWh in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 28.5%.
EVTank predicts that global lithium-ion battery shipments will reach 1899.3 GWh in 2025 and 5127.3 GWh in 2030.
Since the start of 2025, several major overseas lithium battery projects have announced new developments:
Toyota Inaugurates First U.S. EV Battery Plant
On February 5th, Toyota announced the official opening of its $14 billion (approx. RMB 101.95 billion) EV battery plant located in North Carolina.
Toyota stated that the new facility is “ready” and will commence production in April this year to supply batteries for electrified vehicles in North America.
Notably, this is the company’s first wholly-owned battery plant located outside of Japan. Toyota expects the plant’s annual production capacity to exceed 30 GWh once fully operational.
On the same day, Toyota Motor Corporation also announced the establishment of a wholly-owned R&D and manufacturing company for Lexus BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) and batteries in Jinshan District, Shanghai.
The new BEV and battery company, a wholly-owned Toyota enterprise, will leverage the advanced and mature industrial chain foundation, logistics network, talent pool, and market scale of Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region. It will focus on R&D for LEXUS brand BEVs, reflecting Chinese customers’ expectations into products at “China speed,” with production planned to commence in 2027.
KORE Power Cancels Battery Plant Construction Plan
Also on February 5th, foreign media reported that KORE Power has canceled its plan to build a $1 billion (approx. RMB 728 million) lithium-ion battery factory in Buckeye, Arizona.
KORE Power plans to sell a plot of land in Arizona where it originally intended to build the 2 million square-foot (approx. 185,800 square meters) KOREPlex factory.
The KOREPlex was originally designed to produce Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) and Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) cells for EVs and Energy Storage Systems (ESS), and was once positioned as the first U.S.-owned lithium-ion battery factory in the United States.
5 GWh! Automotive Giant Announces Construction of LFP Battery Plant
According to Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.’s official website, on January 22nd, the company signed a site agreement with Fukuoka Prefecture and Kitakyushu City to build a new factory producing Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries in the Hibikinada area of Wakamatsu Ward, Kitakyushu City.
The plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 5 GWh and a projected investment of 153.3 billion Yen (approx. RMB 7.156 billion). Construction is planned to start in 2025, with operations expected to begin in 2028.
Zhuhai CosMX Malaysia New Energy Project Groundbreaking
On January 21st, the groundbreaking ceremony for the New Energy Project of Unimx Technology Malaysia Sdn.Bhd., a subsidiary of CosMX Battery, was held.
The Zhuhai CosMX Malaysia New Energy Project has a total expected investment of no more than RMB 2 billion and is scheduled to start production by the end of 2025.
The construction of the Malaysian production base will further improve CosMX Battery’s global manufacturing layout.
Phase 1 Annual Capacity of 8 GWh! REPT BATTERO Announces New Battery Factory
On January 9th, REPT BATTERO (00666.HK) announced that the Board of Directors had resolved to invest in building a battery factory in Indonesia through its non-wholly-owned subsidiary, PT REPT BATTERO INDONESIA.
The announcement stated that shareholders of the Indonesian subsidiary will subscribe for a total capital increase of $139.5 million. As of the announcement date, the Indonesian subsidiary is 60% owned by Infinitude, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of REPT BATTERO, which intends to contribute $83.7 million. After the capital increase, REPT BATTERO’s shareholding ratio will remain unchanged.
REPT BATTERO stated that upon completion, the Indonesian factory will engage in the R&D, manufacturing, and sales of lithium-ion batteries, battery components, modules, and battery packs in compliance with local government policies. The first phase is expected to produce 8 GWh of power and energy storage batteries and systems annually. The company expects the Indonesian factory to enhance its business in Southeast Asia, bring it closer to local customers and raw materials, and promote efficient resource utilization to achieve high-quality, sustainable development.
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From Surplus to Shortage? Energy Storage Emerges as Lithium’s “Game-Changer” as Morgan Stanley Warns of 80,000-Ton Deficit

As time officially steps into 2026, industry experts widely anticipate that the explosive growth of battery energy storage is poised to bolster the outlook for global lithium demand this year, offering a glimmer of hope for the accelerated recovery of a lithium sector that has been plagued by oversupply in recent years.
Since the second half of 2022, the lithium market has been grappling with a supply surplus. While the price surge triggered by the EV battery boom that year stimulated a supply spike, demand has struggled to keep pace with the massive supply volume for years. However, as reforms in China’s power sector drove an unexpected surge in lithium demand for energy storage batteries in the second half of 2025, this has underpinned a cautiously optimistic outlook for the lithium market in the coming year.
Industry insiders point out that the data center construction boom in China and globally has also driven the growth in lithium demand for power storage, emphasizing that the growth rate of lithium demand in the energy storage sector exceeded expectations in the second half of 2025. Looking ahead, energy storage is likely to become a “game-changer” for the lithium market, improving its fundamentals.
Data shows that battery energy storage systems have become China’s most profitable clean technology export—recording nearly $66 billion in export value in the first 10 months of 2025, surpassing electric vehicles (approximately $54 billion).
Morgan Stanley recently projected a global deficit of 80,000 tonnes of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) for 2026; UBS estimates the deficit at 22,000 tonnes, following an expected supply surplus of 61,000 tonnes in 2025.
According to forecast ranges provided by a survey of four unnamed analysts, global lithium demand is expected to grow by 17%-30% in 2026, while supply is projected to increase by 19%-34%. These analysts predict a lithium price range of RMB 80,000-200,000 per tonne (approx. $11,432-$28,580) for 2026, compared to the 2025 range of RMB 58,400-134,500.
Looking back at the past year, lithium prices continued to fall in the first half of 2025, hitting a yearly low of RMB 58,400 on June 23rd. As profit margins and stock prices of global miners came under pressure, some companies were subsequently forced to cut production.
However, following China’s pledge to address overcapacity in several sectors, including lithium, the Jianxiawo mine—a lepidolite mine in Yichun owned by CATL—suspended production in August last year, triggering a sharp rebound in global lithium prices in the second half of the year.
Domestic lithium carbonate prices have now soared by 130% from their low point last year—reaching RMB 134,500 per tonne on December 29, 2025, the highest level since November 2023. Spot prices assessed by information provider Fastmarkets also rose by 108% over the same period.
Behind this sharp rebound in lithium prices, besides supply tightening, robust demand from energy storage has undoubtedly played a significant role. According to estimates from UBS, lithium demand in the energy storage sector is projected to surge by 71% in 2025, with growth expected to reach 55% in 2026.
Estimates from Guotai Junan indicate that demand for Lithium Carbonate Equivalent in the energy storage sector will account for 31% of total consumption in 2026, up from 23% in 2025, thereby further eroding the market share traditionally dominated by electric vehicle batteries.
Of course, looking ahead, the magnitude of the increase in lithium prices may still be capped, as excessively high prices could undermine the economic viability of energy storage.
Other major risks mentioned by analysts include: a potential faster-than-expected migration of energy storage systems towards sodium-ion battery technology; a slowdown in EV sales that could suppress demand; and supply growth that may limit the upside for price increases.
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Lithium Prices Skyrocket, but Midstream Giants Hit ‘Pause’! Coincidence or ‘Tactics’?

Recently, the lithium carbonate market has presented a complex picture of “ice and fire.” On one side, futures and spot prices continue their strong upward trend with high market sentiment; on the other side, major lithium iron phosphate (LFP) producers such as Hunan Yuneng, Wanrun New Energy, Defang Nano, and Anda Technology have successively disclosed plans for maintenance and production cuts lasting one month. Why is there a divergence where the upstream raw material sector is “hot” while the midstream materials sector is “cold”? Is the timing of these maintenance shutdowns a coincidence or a deliberate maneuver?
01. Rising Prices and “Two Worlds” in the Industry Chain
On December 26th, lithium carbonate prices achieved a landmark breakthrough. On that day, the main lithium carbonate contract on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX) strongly stood above the 130,000 CNY/ton mark, hitting an intraday high of 130,800 CNY/ton—a new high in nearly two years—with a cumulative increase of nearly 70% for the year. The spot market closely followed, with battery-grade lithium carbonate quotes rising in sync and market trading remaining active.
The fundamental driver supporting this rally lies in the explosion of demand. The energy storage market has become a new growth engine; statistics from GGII indicate that China’s total lithium battery shipments for energy storage are expected to exceed 580 GWh in 2025, a year-on-year increase of over 75%. Overseas, the U.S. “Big and Beautiful Act” enacted in July served as a catalyst. To circumvent the policy impacts of “strict restrictions on Foreign Entities of Concern (FEOC)” and the “early termination of solar/wind tax credits” within the Act, manufacturers rushed to commence construction within 2025 to lock in project subsidies. Additionally, major energy storage projects are planned in Europe, Saudi Arabia, and other regions. The confluence of these factors led to a surge in installation demand, resulting in a situation where high-end battery cells were “hard to find.” Furthermore, China’s power battery demand remains strong. From January to November 2025, domestic NEV sales reached 12.466 million units, a year-on-year increase of 23.2%, with market penetration historically breaking the 50% mark in October and continuing to grow. Battery companies are running at full capacity, and some automakers have even resorted to “stationing at factories to wait for goods” to ensure supply.
However, amidst the boom in upstream raw materials and robust downstream battery orders, four leading midstream LFP enterprises collectively cut production. From the evening of December 25th to the 26th, four major LFP producers—including Hunan Yuneng, Wanrun New Energy, Defang Nano, and Anda Technology—successively released announcements regarding production cuts for maintenance. The timing is concentrated at the end of 2025 to the beginning of 2026, with each maintenance period lasting one month. Among them, Wanrun New Energy expects to cut LFP production by 5,000 to 20,000 tons; Hunan Yuneng expects to cut phosphate cathode material production by 15,000 to 35,000 tons; Anda Technology expects to cut LFP production by 3,000 to 5,000 tons; and Defang Nano announced the maintenance of some equipment starting January 1, 2026, for approximately one month. Overall, excluding Defang Nano, the combined production cut scale for the three enterprises ranges from 23,000 to 60,000 tons. Such a synchronized reduction in scale has sparked significant market attention.
02. The Timing of Maintenance: Coincidence or Deliberate?
In fact, the most direct and indisputable trigger for this concentrated maintenance action is the objective need for equipment maintenance after long-term full-load production.
Since 2025, the explosive demand for NEVs and energy storage has driven a surge in LFP demand, keeping the capacity utilization rates of leading enterprises in a state of oversaturation. Hunan Yuneng’s announcement stated that “capacity utilization has exceeded 100% since the beginning of the year,” Wanrun New Energy mentioned that “the company’s LFP production lines have been operating under overload since the fourth quarter,” and Defang Nano and Anda Technology also face pressure for equipment maintenance due to high-intensity production throughout the year. From a conventional perspective, year-end maintenance is an industry practice. Long-term full-load production accelerates the wear and tear of core equipment (such as reactors and calciners), and regular maintenance aims to perform necessary upkeep and technological upgrades to avoid failure risks and ensure stable and efficient production in the coming year.
However, industry insiders claim that the collective maintenance by LFP manufacturers is more motivated by a pursuit of rebalancing interests within the industry chain.
As the core raw material for LFP, lithium carbonate prices have risen continuously since June 2025, with spot prices for battery-grade lithium carbonate rising from 60,000 CNY/ton to over 120,000 CNY/ton, directly pushing up cathode material production costs. Meanwhile, LFP processing fees have long been compressed below 15,000 CNY/ton, falling below the industry average cost line (15,700 – 16,400 CNY/ton). This scissors effect of “rising costs but stagnant processing fees” has led to widespread losses. In the first three quarters of 2025, Defang Nano’s gross profit margin was -2.13%, and Wanrun New Energy’s was only 1.7%. A relevant person from a listed LFP company stated that the industry has been in consecutive losses for nearly three years.
On a deeper level, this reflects a mismatch between the industry’s capacity cycle and the demand cycle. After the expansion wave in previous years, the cathode material sector has accumulated massive production capacity. When demand recovery first drives upstream resource prices to soar, the midstream sector, due to fierce competition and weak bargaining power, sees its overcapacity amplify cost shocks, and profits are drastically compressed in the industry chain redistribution. In a context where raw material prices continue to rise but cost pressures cannot be smoothly passed downstream, production equates to losses. Therefore, taking the initiative to cut production has become a rational choice for enterprises to cope with losses and reduce cash flow hemorrhage. The nearly simultaneous maintenance by leading enterprises essentially forms industry coordination; by collectively contracting supply in the short term, they aim to support market prices. In this context, lowering operating rates transforms from passive operational pressure into an active market “tactic”—its core intention is to create crucial space for subsequent price negotiations through phased supply contraction. As the head of an industry association put it, this is a “measure of last resort.” Consequently, the concentrated maintenance by leading enterprises is also intended to strengthen their bargaining chips for price increases with downstream battery cell manufacturers. It is understood that the industry has already initiated a second round of price increases, with mainstream enterprises planning to raise processing fees by 2,000 – 3,000 CNY/ton, which would significantly improve profitability if implemented.
This seemingly independent “tactic” actually resonates in frequency with upstream moves. Recently, upstream miner Tianqi Lithium, noting a “continuous and significant deviation” between traditional quotations (such as those from SMM) and spot/futures prices, deemed this a challenge to its operations and thus adjusted its pricing benchmark, reflecting a battle for dominance over a fairer pricing system. Meanwhile, the collective production cuts by midstream enterprises are a response to upstream demands for cost pass-through. Seemingly different moves by the upstream and downstream ultimately converge, aiming to jointly push product prices back toward a “cost + reasonable profit” level.
03. Future Outlook: High-Level Volatility and Reshaping of the Industry Chain
Looking ahead at the subsequent trend of lithium carbonate prices, experts point out that the market will enter a new phase of complex games between bullish and bearish factors. It is expected that the price center will fluctuate at a high level, while the internal structure of the industry chain faces reshaping. Short-term prices still receive solid support from several key industrial factors.
Cathode material factories cutting production to support prices makes a downward pass-through of lithium price increases promising. SMM analysis points out that although leading LFP enterprises have initiated a second round of negotiations recently, the first round for most other material factories has yet to materialize. Downstream battery cell manufacturers have generally recognized the pressure from raw material price increases, but actual implementation still awaits further negotiation results. If subsequent price increases by cathode material factories are realized, it will be more conducive to the downward transmission of lithium price increases, opening up upside potential. At the same time, Tianqi Lithium’s adjustment of its pricing benchmark also indirectly confirms strong downstream demand.
Industry high prosperity continues, with lithium carbonate inventories remaining low consecutively. According to survey data from Top 20 battery factories by TD Tech (TD), China’s lithium battery (energy storage + power + consumer) market production scheduling total for January 2026 is approximately 210 GWh, a month-on-month decrease of 4.5%, performing better than market expectations. According to SMM data, total weekly lithium carbonate inventories on December 25, 2025, were 109,800 tons, a month-on-month decrease of 652 tons, marking the 19th consecutive week of destocking, while inventory levels hit a new low since February 20, 2025.
Energy storage demand is also boosting expectations, and the supply-demand pattern is expected to improve in 2026. Benefiting from declining costs, policies promoting wider peak-valley price spreads, and the introduction of capacity electricity prices or compensation policies in some domestic provinces, domestic energy storage yields are expected to rise, thereby driving demand. According to Xinluo Consulting statistics, global lithium battery shipments for energy storage reached 620 GWh in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 77%, and are expected to reach 960 GWh in 2026, a year-on-year increase of 54.8%. From a capital expenditure perspective, capital expenditures by major global lithium mining companies have shown an inflection point decline since 2024, corresponding to an expected slowdown in supply growth for new or expanded projects in 2026 and 2027. Energy storage taking over from electric vehicles is expected to become the second growth curve for lithium demand, and the supply-demand pattern is expected to improve in 2026.
However, room for further significant upward price movement is clearly constrained. First, supply elasticity will gradually emerge. When prices stabilize at 130,000 CNY/ton and above, enthusiasm for resuming production of marginal capacities (such as mica-based lithium extraction) that were previously suspended due to high costs will increase, and overseas imports may also rise. Second, the “ceiling” effect of downstream affordability. The current predicament of midstream enterprises has sounded the alarm; if lithium prices continue to rise unilaterally and rapidly, it will seriously erode the profits of the entire mid-to-downstream manufacturing industry, ultimately biting back demand. This negative feedback mechanism will suppress price increases.
Synthesizing institutional views, in the short term, lithium carbonate prices will likely maintain high-level operation. The key observation points for the trend lie in the industry production scheduling plans for January 2026 and downstream acceptance of current prices. In the long run, this round of volatility may accelerate the optimization of the industry chain structure. Large-scale material enterprises with integrated lithium resource layouts and deep binding to high-quality customers will see their risk resistance capabilities and cost advantages become increasingly prominent. The entire industry is expected to shift from simple competition based on capacity scale to a comprehensive contest of supply chain stability, technological iteration speed, and cost control capabilities. A healthier and more resilient lithium battery ecosystem requires the establishment of a more reasonable and transparent mechanism for profit sharing and risk sharing between the upstream and downstream.
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From King of Separators to Sulfide “Materials Supplier”: Enjie’s Bold Bet on the Golden Decade Window for All-Solid-State Batteries

From Separator King to Sulfide “Materials Supplier”: Enjie’s High-Stakes Bet on the Golden Decade Window for All-Solid-State Batteries

When a disruptive technology signals an “overhaul” of your core business, the only thing you can do is acquire the companies building the tools for this change before the transformation arrives.
The lithium battery separator industry is experiencing a seismic shift.
Recently, Enjie, the global leader in battery separators, announced its plan to acquire Zhongke Hualian, a wet-process separator equipment manufacturer. Intriguingly, the target company ran at a loss last year. Meanwhile, Enjie itself is facing tough times, with a net loss of 556 million yuan in 2024 and continued losses in 2025.
A loss-making industry leader acquiring another loss-making upstream equipment supplier—does this sound like a mathematical game of “two negatives make a positive”, or a desperate act of “mutual support amid adversity”?
The story is far more complex and thrilling. Once an “invisible champion” that raked in 4 billion yuan annually from its lithium battery separator business and held a staggering 30% of the global market share, Enjie is now confronting two major challenges simultaneously: a brutal industry price war raging in the present, and a disruptive threat from the future technological roadmap—solid-state batteries.
This self-rescue effort by a leading enterprise with a market capitalization of over 100 billion yuan is not only a matter of life and death for the company itself, but also bears on China’s initiative in the entire lithium battery industrial chain. Every step it takes is a high-stakes gamble.

From Peak to Abyss: The “Avalanche” in Separator Prices

To understand Enjie’s predicament, we must first recognize how glorious it once was.
A lithium battery is like a sandwich: the cathode and anode are the two slices of bread, the electrolyte in between is the cream, and the separator is the insulating paper that prevents direct contact between the cathode and anode, which would otherwise cause a short circuit. This tiny membrane boasts extremely high technical barriers—its pore size, thickness, and strength directly determine the battery’s safety and lifespan.
Enjie reigned supreme globally in this “paper” segment. Its client list reads like a “who’s who” of the lithium battery industry: CATL, BYD, EVE Energy, CALB, and more.
Virtually all top-tier battery manufacturers count Enjie as their supplier. At the industry’s peak in 2022, the company recorded a revenue of 12.59 billion yuan, a net profit exceeding 4 billion yuan, and a gross profit margin that once neared 50%—making it a veritable cash cow.
However, super-profits attracted hordes of competitors. Driven by the boom in the new energy sector in recent years, capital from all walks of life flooded into the separator market, leading to a drastic expansion of production capacity. When supply growth far outpaced downstream demand, a ruthless price war ensued.
Data lays bare this “avalanche”: the price of mainstream 9μm wet-process base membranes plummeted from several yuan per square meter at the peak to around 0.8 yuan per square meter in the second half of 2025, edging perilously close to the industry’s cost line.
The consequences of this price collapse are directly reflected in Enjie’s financial statements:
  • Stagnant Revenue: Growth turned negative in 2023, as the growth engine sputtered to a halt.
  • Collapsing Profits: A net loss of 556 million yuan in 2024, followed by a further loss of 86 million yuan in the first three quarters of 2025.
  • Gross Margin Halved—Then Halved Again: Plunging from the lofty heights of nearly 50% to a mere 11.07% in 2024.
Once the “profit king”, Enjie has fallen into a quagmire of stagnant revenue growth, shrinking profits, and even losses. The industry has transformed from a technology-driven blue ocean into a cutthroat red ocean dominated by cost competition.

Integrating the Industrial Chain: A Gamble on “Cost Reduction for Survival”

Faced with industry-wide losses, Enjie’s first move is vertical integration—acquiring upstream equipment supplier Zhongke Hualian.
The logic behind this move is clear: since it has no control over the prices of its downstream products (separators), it will seek profits upstream by seizing control of the lifeline of production equipment.
What is Zhongke Hualian’s background?
It is one of the few domestic companies capable of independently developing complete wet-process separator production lines, with over a decade of technical accumulation. Acquiring it means Enjie is expected to build an integrated chain covering equipment R&D and separator manufacturing.
The potential benefits of this seemingly “money-losing deal” include:
  1. Lower Equipment Investment Costs: Eliminating the need to purchase core equipment at high prices from external suppliers and instead producing equipment in-house can reduce fixed asset investment.
  2. Optimized Production Processes: Tighter integration between equipment and processes allows for targeted improvements to production lines, boosting efficiency and product yield.
  3. Building a Deeper Moat: Mastering core equipment technology in-house creates a complete technical barrier from equipment to products, making it harder for latecomers to catch up.
Enjie’s management has high hopes that this integration will effectively lower operational costs and drive profitability back on track. In essence, this is a battle for survival—one that seeks efficiency through better management and profits through industrial chain integration.

The Real “Gray Rhino”: The Disruptive Threat of Solid-State Batteries

Yet, compared to the cyclical industry price war, a larger and more fatal shadow looms over Enjie—the all-solid-state battery, hailed as the ultimate form of next-generation batteries.
The core of the problem is brutal and straightforward: in theory, all-solid-state batteries do not require separators.
Imagine spending years building a dominant position as the world’s largest candlewick supplier—only for the light bulb to be invented overnight. That is the long-term existential challenge Enjie faces. In 2024, 81.2% of the company’s revenue came from lithium battery separators. If this business is disrupted, it would spell disaster.
So, when will this “Sword of Damocles” fall? A rational analysis is needed:
The current industry consensus points to a gradual transition: liquid batteries → semi-solid-state batteries → all-solid-state batteries. Semi-solid-state batteries still require separators, providing Enjie with a valuable “escape window”. Moreover, the industry generally agrees that large-scale, low-cost commercialization of all-solid-state batteries will take another 5 to 10 years, or even longer.
This is Enjie’s most solid buffer. Currently, the core raw material cost of the best-performing sulfide solid electrolytes is over a hundred times that of liquid electrolytes. The overall cost of all-solid-state batteries is prohibitively high, meaning they are destined to be used only in ultra-high-end fields such as aerospace and deep-sea exploration for a long time, unable to shake the mainstream market of power batteries and energy storage batteries.
But this does not mean Enjie can rest easy. Once the wave of technological change is set in motion, it cannot be reversed. The company must find a second lifeline within this limited window.

Betting on Solid Electrolytes: From “Separator King” to “Materials Supplier”

Enjie is not sitting idly by. Its response strategy is clearly reflected in the direction of its R&D investment.
Even amid losses in 2024, the company’s R&D expenditure reached a substantial 663 million yuan, with continued increases. Where is this money going? The answer points directly to the future:
  1. Defending the Semi-Solid-State Fortress: Its subsidiary already has mass production and supply capabilities for semi-solid-state battery separators, actively expanding the market to ensure it does not fall behind during the transition period.
  2. Betting Big on the All-Solid-State Future: The company has strategically shifted its R&D focus to sulfide solid electrolytes—a technical route widely regarded as having the greatest long-term potential. In October 2025, the company announced that its pilot production line for high-purity lithium sulfide has been completed, and its 10-tonne production line for solid electrolytes has been put into operation.
  3. Opening a New Front in Energy Storage: Simultaneously, the company is seizing the opportunity of the booming energy storage market to drive product transformation, hoping to offset fluctuations in the power battery market with growing demand for energy storage batteries.
This means Enjie is attempting a risky identity transformation: evolving from a separator supplier in the liquid battery era to a core materials provider (solid electrolytes) in the solid-state battery era.
This is a thorny path. The technical routes and production processes of solid electrolytes are completely different from those of separators, equivalent to building an entirely new and equally competitive business on top of existing operations.
In the view of Yan Xi, Enjie’s predicament epitomizes the challenges faced by many leading Chinese manufacturers that rose to prominence by dominating a single technical high ground. They have reaped enormous dividends from technological breakthroughs, but are also more vulnerable to “precision strikes” from changes in technical routes.
Its self-rescue strategy is a combination of short-term defense and long-term offense:
  • Short Term (1–3 years): Reduce costs and boost efficiency through vertical integration (acquiring Zhongke Hualian) to weather the industry downturn; simultaneously, firmly grasp the transitional demand for semi-solid-state batteries and expand into the energy storage market to stabilize its core business.
  • Long Term (5–10 years): Go all-in on R&D, betting heavily on the sulfide solid electrolyte track to secure a future as a core supplier in a brand-new field.
This high-stakes gamble carries substantial risks:
  1. Cash Flow Pressure: With its core business losing money, continuous capital injection is required for mergers and acquisitions as well as cutting-edge R&D—placing extreme pressure on the company’s cash flow.
  2. Technical Route Risk: If the sulfide route fails to become the ultimate winner, or if the company’s R&D progress lags behind competitors, huge investments may be wasted.
  3. Transformation Execution Risk: Expanding from equipment to separators and then to electrolytes exponentially increases management complexity, placing extraordinary demands on the company’s strategic resolve and organizational capabilities.
The market’s current valuation of Enjie is a complex mix of discount and premium: discounted for the brutal price war and loss-making financial statements in the present; and premium for its global leading market share and its ambition to “regain the throne” in the solid-state battery era.
Its acquisition of a loss-making equipment supplier is not for simple financial consolidation, but to dig deeper trenches for survival. Its huge investment in the uncertain future of solid electrolytes is not chasing buzzwords, but buying a potential ticket to a new continent for long-term sustainability.
The crown of the “Separator King” is already cracked. With its actions, Enjie has made it clear that it is unwilling to be merely a king of the old era—it aspires to become one of the founders of the new era.
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Lithium Battery Prices Enter an Uptrend Channel: Rebalancing of Industrial Cycles and Value Logic

After years of an industry-wide downward cycle, the price of lithium iron phosphate has been on a continuous upward trend for six months starting from June 2025. Data from Shanghai Steelhome (25.720, +0.60, +2.39%) shows that as of mid-December 2025, the mainstream market price of power-oriented lithium iron phosphate had surged to RMB 41,200 per ton, representing a nearly 30% increase within half a year.
This price hike is by no means an isolated incident. A cost-driven wave of price increases, spanning from cathode materials to lithium salts, is reshaping the overall landscape of the lithium battery industry. Fueled by favorable cost-side dynamics, the new energy industry chain is undergoing a phase of self-calibration, with enterprises in niche segments such as large cylindrical batteries accelerating their deployment to capitalize on this trend.

Three Years of Industry Pressures Gradually Ease; Dual Drivers of Vehicle and Energy Storage Markets Propel Growth

Analysts point out that the current price rally of lithium iron phosphate is an inevitable outcome of the profound rebalancing of supply and demand following a three-year industry downturn. Fundamentally, it is underpinned by the dual demand drivers of the simultaneous expansion of new energy vehicles (NEVs) and energy storage sectors, which is gradually relieving the accumulated pressures across the industry.
From the end of 2022 to August 2025, the price of lithium iron phosphate materials plummeted by over 80%, placing significant profitability pressures on the entire industry.
The industry’s turning point emerged in June 2025. As upstream raw material prices climbed and downstream demand continued to recover, price increases became an inevitable choice for enterprises to sustain normal operations. Recently, several leading new energy companies including EVE Energy (68.970, +3.21, +4.88%) (rights protection), Chuangming New Energy, BAK Battery, and Tianneng Group have successively issued price adjustment notices, which are expected to drive a new round of performance growth for industry players.
Beneath the surface of rising raw material costs lies the robust support from the better-than-expected boom in downstream market demand—the core driver of this lithium iron phosphate price surge, stemming from the two key sectors of NEVs and energy storage.
Compared with lead-acid batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries offer distinct advantages in performance, cost-effectiveness, and environmental friendliness. They have now become the mainstream technical route in NEVs, light-duty power systems, and energy storage systems, boasting strong irreplaceability. With the implementation of new national standards imposing higher requirements, the future market space for lithium iron phosphate batteries is set to expand further.
In the power battery sector, lithium iron phosphate has long established its dominant position. From January to November 2025, sales of lithium iron phosphate power batteries in China skyrocketed by 66.9% year-on-year, with their market share climbing to 72.8%. This growth momentum is highly aligned with the strong performance of the NEV market—during the same period, domestic NEV production and sales both exceeded 31% year-on-year, directly fueling the surge in demand for power batteries.
Demand growth in the energy storage market has been even more robust, emerging as another crucial engine driving lithium iron phosphate demand. GGII (Gaogong Industry Research Institute) predicts that the shipment volume of energy storage lithium batteries in China will surge by over 75% in 2025. Notably, nearly 100% of energy storage batteries adopt the lithium iron phosphate technical route, creating a more direct pull on upstream material demand. Data from relevant industry associations shows that lithium iron phosphate materials account for as high as 99.9% of the energy storage battery sector, solidifying its role as a key material cornerstone for the construction of new power systems.

From “Price Wars” to “Value Wars”: The Frenzy of “Full Production” for Large Cylindrical Batteries

The sustained recovery in prices is driving upstream and terminal battery industries to gradually move away from cutthroat low-price competition and enter a new development phase centered on value creation.
Industry-wide collaborative efforts to break the deadlock have taken the lead. In November 2025, representatives from seven major domestic lithium iron phosphate enterprises gathered in Beijing to discuss the industry’s future development direction. At the meeting, the China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association explicitly advocated for reconstructing the industry’s pricing logic with cost indices as the core reference, fundamentally avoiding vicious competition and laying a solid foundation for the healthy development of the industry.
This guiding direction has already translated into positive signals at the enterprise operation level. Industry analysts generally believe that the dividends of this round of industry recovery will be concentrated more in leading enterprises with technological advantages, cost control capabilities, and high-quality customer resources.
Amid the explosive dual demand from the vehicle and energy storage sectors, small and medium-sized battery systems are also keeping pace. Light-duty power systems, portable energy storage, and residential energy storage are ushering in a new round of iterative growth. Take Chuangming New Energy, a veteran battery manufacturer and a leading player in the cylindrical battery segment, as an example. Recently, the company issued a public notice on price adjustments for large cylindrical lithium iron phosphate batteries, explicitly stating that it would raise prices for its entire range of battery products starting from December 1, 2025. This price adjustment is supported by the sustained high prosperity of its production capacity and orders—the Mianyang production base has maintained a long-term high capacity utilization rate, with its core product, the 32140 large cylindrical lithium iron phosphate battery, achieving full production and full sales. According to industry insiders close to the plant, current order backlogs are substantial, logistics operations are bustling, and production line automation efficiency ranks among the industry’s top tier. These details directly demonstrate the strong market demand for large cylindrical batteries.
Amid the competition among diverse battery technology routes, market attention on large cylindrical batteries has been continuously rising. Industry data shows that the global demand for large cylindrical batteries exceeded the 100 GWh mark in 2025. Coupled with the sustained growth momentum of small and medium-sized energy power systems, large cylindrical batteries are poised to enjoy considerable growth space in the coming years, emerging as a key driving force for the high-quality development of the battery industry.
Faced with rising material costs and fragmented market demand, enterprises with solid technological accumulation are building their competitiveness through product iteration and market positioning.
Taking Chuangming New Energy as an example, its 32140 lithium iron phosphate full-tab large cylindrical battery focuses on cost-performance ratio, while offering uniform heat dissipation and high safety. The battery can operate stably at a high temperature range of 60℃, making it highly suitable for light-duty power and residential energy storage markets in Southeast Asia and tropical regions. This technological advantage has been directly converted into market competitiveness. The company’s products have been mass-exported to markets such as the Middle East, Europe, and India, positioning it among the industry’s front-runners in overseas competition.

Future Outlook: Parallel Development of Technological Diversification and Market Segmentation

At present, the battery industry chain is in a period of dual transformation featuring structural adjustment and technological iteration. Beyond large cylindrical batteries, multiple technical routes including semi-solid-state, all-solid-state and sodium-ion batteries are also advancing in parallel and achieving accelerated breakthroughs.
For large cylindrical batteries, despite the core challenges they still face such as production efficiency and product consistency, they have been expanding their application scenarios by virtue of their unique advantages in energy density and structural stability. These batteries have deeply penetrated high-end electric vehicles, residential energy storage, portable energy storage and other fields, and have also emerged in emerging tracks such as eVTOL. With the continuous advancement of material system upgrading and production process optimization, large cylindrical batteries are expected to further unlock their market potential in light-duty vehicles, energy storage systems and other sectors, and play a more pivotal role.
The industry boom is also undergoing structural reshaping. Brokerage analysts point out that this round of lithium iron phosphate price increases is backed by solid fundamentals, and the industry’s long-term development trend remains positive. In addition, insiders from lithium battery enterprises indicate that downstream demand continues to stay robust, and the price adjustments triggered by cost pass-through are essentially a rational return of industry value.
Standing at the new starting point where the industry is moving towards high-quality development, the core competitiveness of enterprises will no longer be simply limited to production capacity scale and cost control capabilities, but will depend more on the comprehensive competition of technological innovation, capital strength and supply chain collaboration capabilities.
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