Venture(US:VEMLY) Jin Rong Jie·2025-12-29 11:21Price Trends - As of December 29, the SMM battery-grade lithium carbonate index price is 117,013 yuan/ton, an increase of 5,331 yuan/ton from the previous working day [1] - Battery-grade lithium carbonate ranges from 116,000 to 126,000 yuan/ton, with an average price of 118,000 yuan/ton, up by 6,100 yuan/ton from the previous working day [1] - Industrial-grade lithium carbonate is priced between 108,000 and 122,000 yuan/ton, with an average of 115,000 yuan/ton, increasing by 5,750 yuan/ton from the previous working day [1] Market Demand Outlook - The demand for domestic new energy lithium batteries is expected to decline significantly at the beginning of 2026, with a projected decrease of at least 30% compared to the fourth quarter of 2025 [2] Production Adjustments - Four leading phosphate iron lithium companies are collectively reducing production for maintenance, with a maintenance period of one month from late 2025 to early 2026. Wanrun New Energy expects to reduce phosphate iron lithium production by 5,000 to 20,000 tons, Hunan Youneng anticipates a reduction of 15,000 to 35,000 tons of phosphate positive electrode materials, and Anda Technology expects to cut production by 3,000 to 5,000 tons [3] - Longpan Technology's subsidiary, Changzhou Lithium Source, will also reduce production for maintenance starting January 1, 2026, with an expected reduction of around 5,000 tons of phosphate iron lithium [5] Strategic Developments - Samsung SDI has secured a new order worth over 2 trillion Korean won (approximately 1.35 billion USD) in the U.S. to supply square phosphate iron lithium batteries for energy storage systems, planning to fully transition its U.S. electric vehicle battery production line to energy storage system batteries by 2027 [4] - Tianqi Lithium announced that SQM has completed its strategic cooperation with Codelco, and the joint venture SQM Salar will be renamed Nova Andino Litio SpA [6] Company Initiatives - Hengyi Energy's IPO has been accepted, focusing on intelligent manufacturing equipment for new energy lithium batteries, with plans to raise 839 million yuan for the construction of manufacturing bases, research centers, and to supplement working capital [7] - Jinhui Industrial has entered the lithium battery materials supply chain through products like thionyl chloride, lithium salt precursors, and electrolyte additives, achieving an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons of bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide and planning a total capacity of 30,000 tons, with some sales realized recently [8]