Recently, the lithium battery industry chain has experienced a series of critical events: a significant rise in lithium carbonate futures prices, multiple lithium iron phosphate (LFP) companies announcing price increases, and industry leader Tianci Materials declaring a maintenance halt for its lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) production line. These seemingly independent events collectively indicate that the lithium battery material industry is undergoing a profound transformation from price competition to value return and from scale expansion to lean operations. This article will analyze the industry logic and market impact behind these events from an industry chain perspective.
Tianci Materials recently announced that it plans to conduct a 20-30 day maintenance on its annual 150,000-ton liquid lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) production line at the Longshan North base starting March 1,2026. This decision is based on the routine requirements of the operational cycle for chemical production facilities, aiming to ensure the safe and stable operation of subsequent production units.
The market reacted strongly to this announcement, as the maintenance of this production line means that over 10% of the LiPF6 market supply will temporarily exit in the short term. The current LiPF6 market is in an upward cycle, with prices rising approximately 250% since the second half of 2025, creating a situation of "hard-to-find goods." The production halt will undoubtedly further exacerbate market supply tightness.
It is worth noting that while announcing the maintenance halt, Tianci Materials also adjusted its electrolyte and recycling project plans, reducing capacity construction scale and canceling the battery recycling business. This reflects a shift in the company's strategic focus from mere capacity expansion to optimizing capacity structure and operational efficiency.
In the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) material segment, several leading companies have reached a consensus to uniformly raise the processing fee for their full range of LFP products by 3,000 yuan per ton starting in 2026. This industry-wide price adjustment action reflects the current profitability dilemma of the lithium iron phosphate material segment.
According to industry data, after deducting lithium carbonate costs, the average cost range for the LFP material industry is approximately 15,700 to 16,400 yuan per ton, and current market prices are close to the cost line. More concerning is that profitable companies in the LFP material industry account for only 16.7%, far lower than other core lithium battery material segments. This profit pressure has become the main bottleneck for the sustainable development of the industry.
Industry price adjustments are not only a short-term measure for companies to cope with cost pressures, but also a sign that the industry bids farewell to disorderly competition and moves towards high-quality development. By moderately increasing processing fees, companies are expected to obtain more resources for technological innovation and process improvement, thus enhancing the overall competitiveness of the industry.
The lithium carbonate futures market has shown strong performance recently, with the main contract once hitting the daily limit-up and closing at 95,200 yuan per ton. The main driving force behind the rise in lithium carbonate prices has shifted from traditional new energy vehicle demand to the outbreak of energy storage demand.
Energy storage cell shipments are expected to achieve leapfrog growth in 2026. Under an optimistic scenario, the global lithium demand corresponding to energy storage is expected to exceed 600,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of approximately 74%. The rapid growth in energy storage demand provides a new growth engine for the lithium market and also changes the market's expected structure for lithium demand.
In addition, disturbances on the supply side have strengthened market expectations of tight lithium supply. The delayed resumption of production at the Jianxiawo lithium mine in Yichun, Jiangxi, and companies like CATL still needing to purchase lithium ore externally to ensure production have collectively driven the rise in lithium carbonate prices.
This series of changes in the lithium battery material industry marks the industry's transition from a homogenized competition stage centered on cost to a high-quality development stage centered on technological innovation and value creation.
The suspension of production for maintenance reflects the company's emphasis on production safety and optimization of production capacity; industry-wide price increases reflect the pursuit of reasonable profit margins in all links of the industrial chain; the rise in lithium carbonate prices reveals the driving role of emerging applications such as energy storage in the demand for raw materials. Together, these changes form a multidimensional picture of industry transformation.
Looking ahead, with the steady increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles and the rapid expansion of the energy storage market, the demand for lithium battery materials will maintain growth. At the same time, industry consolidation and structural optimization will also accelerate. Companies with technological leadership, strong cost control capabilities, and stable supply chains will gain greater development space in the new phase.