Report Information - Report Title: Carbonate Lithium Futures Daily Report [1] - Date: September 25, 2025 [2] - Researcher: Zhang Ping, Yu Feifei, Peng Jinglin [3][4] Industry Investment Rating - Not provided in the report Core View - The carbonate lithium futures continued a weak and volatile trend. The market sentiment gradually weakened as the expected production cuts on the supply side near the end of the month were not realized. The futures market maintained a contango structure, with futures prices lower than spot prices. The spot price of electric carbon remained stable, while the prices of Australian ore and mica decreased with the downward movement of the futures market. The production losses of salt plants using purchased lithium spodumene and lithium mica improved slightly. Although salt plants were currently operating at a loss, it did not affect their production enthusiasm. As the industry's peak demand season was approaching, the pre - National Day stocking by downstream material factories was nearing completion, and the support from the spot market was gradually weakening. Overall, the pressure on the futures market increased due to the continuous high production of carbonate lithium, combined with the approaching end of spot stocking. However, considering the expected increase in new energy vehicle production and sales this year due to the subsidy reduction next year and the unexpected performance of the energy storage sector, the demand for carbonate lithium was expected to increase rapidly, and the downward adjustment space for carbonate lithium was limited. Attention should be paid to the support level of around 72,000 for the main contract [9]. Summary by Directory 1. Market Review and Operation Suggestions - The carbonate lithium futures continued a weak and volatile trend. The expected production cuts on the supply side were not realized, and the market sentiment weakened. The futures market was in a contango structure, with futures prices lower than spot prices. The spot price of electric carbon was stable, and the prices of Australian ore and mica decreased. The production losses of salt plants improved slightly, but it did not affect production enthusiasm. The pre - National Day stocking by downstream material factories was nearing completion, and the spot - market support was weakening. The pressure on the futures market increased due to high production and approaching end of stocking, but the downward adjustment space was limited. Attention should be paid to the support level of around 72,000 for the main contract [9]. 2. Industry News - On September 23, Australian mining company Anson Resources signed a battery - grade carbonate lithium purchase agreement with South Korean LG Energy Solution. LG will purchase up to 4,000 dry metric tons of battery - grade carbonate lithium annually from Anson's project in the Paradox Basin, Utah, USA, starting in 2028, accounting for about 40% of the project's initial annual production capacity of about 10,000 tons. The initial term of the agreement is five years, with a possible five - year extension [12]. - In August 2025, China's lithium spodumene import volume was 619,200 tons, a 17.5% decrease from the previous month. Imports from Australia were 212,000 tons, a 50.5% decrease from the previous month and a 30.7% decrease from the same period last year; from South Africa were 56,000 tons, a 46.8% decrease from the previous month; from Zimbabwe were 118,000 tons, an 83.9% increase from the previous month; from Nigeria were 105,000 tons, a 9.5% decrease from the previous month; and from Mali were 73,000 tons. From January to August, China's lithium spodumene import volume was 4.865 million tons, including 2.445 million tons from Australia, 655,000 tons from South Africa, and 696,000 tons from Zimbabwe. The import volume in July soared and returned to the average level of the previous months in August [12][13].

Core Viewpoint - The company is actively working to increase the production capacity of the new ES8 model to meet demand [1] Group 1 - The chairman of the company, Li Bin, announced efforts to enhance the production capacity of the new ES8 during the NIO Day event on September 20 [1] - If production capacity cannot meet order demand, the company will subsidize the difference due to the reduction in new energy vehicle subsidies next year [1]