China Insider

Iron-phosphate cathodes are heading for three-quarters of the world's lithium-ion market and the demand engine has quietly moved from cars to energy infrastructure.

Calcium carbide prices firm ahead of Mid-Autumn Festival and Golden Week; August PVC exports jump 45% while product prices slide. Every link in the chain is losing cash and that, not demand, is now the floor.

China H-Acid went vertical over the weekend. Market average transaction prices jumped 11.54% in a single Sunday session to RMB 145,000/MT and a Tianjin Yadong Longxing price letter has now set a list price of RMB 200,000/MT effective 20 September. From a cycle low of under RMB 40,000/MT, the list price is up roughly five-fold. This is the sixth note in our H-Acid Chaos series.

As of 16 September, H-Acid spot quotes hold at RMB 150,000/MT up more than 275% year-to-date and a historic high with the supply story unchanged: high-risk nitration and sulphonation, severe safety and environmental control, near-impossible new-capacity approvals, and effective supply still contracting.

The Chinese titanium dioxide industry has entered a concentrated price-adjustment window. Industry leader LB Group announced first, and within three days nine further producers followed with identical quanta. Both rutile and anatase grades are covered. The pricing camp for this round has formed quickly.

China makes more dye every year and earns less doing it. Between 2021 and 2025 national dye output rose from 856,000 t to 983,000 t (3.5% CAGR), yet industry output value fell from RMB 69.9 bn to RMB 57.1 bn (-4.9% CAGR) and total profit halved, from RMB 9.5 bn to RMB 5.0 bn (-14.9% CAGR). The Chinese trade's own verdict on the 14th Five-Year period: "more output, no more revenue, no more profit.

*A week after our 2 September edition, the electrolyte chain is still the only part of the battery-materials board moving up and it moved again on 8 September. DMC jumped 6.35% in a single session to

RMB 6,700/t, with EMC, DEC and EC all higher. Everything cobalt-linked went the other way: the cobalt salts fell 2–3%, ternary precursors 1.2–1.6%, and every LCO grade about 1.5%. Lithium, LFP,

anode graphite and formulated electrolyte were unchanged.*

Carbon black prices were flat week-on-week (4 → 8 Sept) across all six tracked regions and four grades, holding at elevated levels: N220 RMB 9,700–10,400/MT, N330/N660 RMB 8,700–9,200/MT, N550 RMB 9,100–9,600/MT.

The PVC futures board moved from RMB 4,578/MT to RMB 5,128/MT, and producer ex-works prices followed within days: Xinfa +500, Dongfang +460, Lutai +340.

Producer presales jumped 33.7% week-on-week to 1.013 million MT, and both social and plant inventories kept drawing down.