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Lithium Battery Industry Update (Late October 2026): Raw Material Prices Slip to New Lows While Storage Demand Stays Red-Hot
Created on 10.29
Over the past two weeks, the lithium battery industry has shown a clear divergence: lithium carbonate prices have dropped toward year lows again, while downstream energy storage demand keeps surging — top manufacturers are running at full capacity and accelerating global expansion. Here is the latest snapshot.
1. Lithium carbonate slips again to new lows
In mid-October, battery-grade lithium carbonate spot prices fell below RMB 110,000/t, quoted at RMB 108,850/t; futures followed, with the main contract closing at RMB 96,540/t on October 28 after touching an intraday low of RMB 96,040/t — nearly halved from its May high. Goldman Sachs expects China's average spot price to ease further to around RMB 100,000/t in 2027 and RMB 84,000/t in 2028. For buyers, easing upstream costs leave room for more competitive pricing next year.
2. Storage demand keeps booming; top capacity fully booked
EVE Energy shipped 67.52 GWh of storage batteries in the first nine months of 2026, up 39.5% year on year, with Q4 capacity fully booked, and China's monthly storage battery output hit a new record in October. CATL chairman Robin Zeng said at the World Energy Storage Conference that storage is evolving from a supporting facility for renewables into indispensable new infrastructure for the power grid. The new Five-Year Plan for the battery industry covers storage, AI data centers and robotics, and the "capacity value" of storage has been formally recognized by policy. Industry profitability is recovering too: 19 A-share lithium battery companies reported combined Q3 revenue of RMB 620.37 billion and net profit of RMB 75.05 billion. Separately, a proposed cut to the export tax rebate for new energy vehicles has drawn market attention.
3. Global giants accelerate storage expansion
- CATL launched its 9MWh TENER+ BESS globally at All-Energy Australia and signed MoUs with multiple Australian partners;
- LG Energy Solution signed an MoU with Energix to expand its ESS business in Europe and North America, targeting around 4.5 GWh over the next 24 months;
- Samsung SDI signed a 1 GWh supply agreement for US-made NCA storage cells (Michigan) and has begun converting part of its Indiana plant to LFP cells for energy storage.
4. Price signals: cell quotes diverge, system prices stabilize
On listed prices, CATL's 314Ah storage cell starts at RMB 0.403/Wh and its 587Ah cell at RMB 0.415/Wh. Mainstream 314Ah cell quotes have recovered from RMB 0.26–0.31/Wh at end-2025 to around RMB 0.36–0.39/Wh. On the system side, Huadian's 100MW/200MWh high-voltage cascade LFP storage procurement was bid at roughly RMB 0.54–0.569/Wh, with average system bids back above RMB 0.50/Wh.
5. What this means for international buyers
With raw material prices easing but system prices firm, quality cells and systems remain in tight supply, and leading manufacturers prioritize long-term order clients. Buyers planning procurement should lock in quality capacity and delivery slots early, while watching for a potential price drop next year as lithium carbonate softens — long-term supply agreements are an effective hedge against price volatility.