Major Chinese battery material producer Green Eco-Manufacture (Gem) has signed an initial deal to supply battery ternary precursors to South Korean battery cathode material producer Ecopro BM over 2021-23, Argusmedia.com reports.
Gem will supply no less than 176,000 t/yr of high nickel content nickel-cobalt-manganese/nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCM/NCA) ternary precursors in 2021-23, including a minimum of 30,000t in 2021 and 73,000t in 2022.
Gem and Ecopro BM set up a joint venture in April last year to produce NCM/NCA ternary precursors with high nickel content in Ningde city in southwest China’s Fujian province.
Gem produced 93,447t of battery materials last year, down by 26.7pc from 2019, with sales falling by 25pc to 93,791t. The Covid-19 pandemic in and outside of China weighed on demand from the new energy vehicle industry and consumer electronics battery sectors, especially in the first half of 2020.
Ecopro BM is a subsidiary of Ecopro, which mainly produces NCM and NCA battery materials. The South Korean firm is the main external supplier of NCA cathode materials to Samsung SDI.
NCM/NCA ternary precursors are manufactured using cobalt, nickel and aluminium/manganese. The precursor is then combined with lithium to make cathode material. NCA and NCM batteries are expected to be intensively used in the electric vehicle sector over the next five years.
Argus yesterday assessed prices for domestically-produced nickel sulphate, one of the main feedstocks to manufacture NCM/NCA materials, at 31,000-32,000 yuan/t ($4,754-4,906/t) ex-works, unchanged since 8 April. Prices for 99.8pc grade metal were assessed at Yn340-365/kg ex-works yesterday, down by Yn5/kg from the upper end of the 13 April range, as producers reduced offer prices to attract sales.