China takes aim at Li-ion battery prices

摘要

The Chinese government plans to create co-ordinated and stable development of the lithium-ion battery industrial chain, particularly aiming at stabilising raw material prices. “With explosively rising demand from downstream sectors and increasing pressure from a downtrend in economic growth, the domestic lithium-ion battery industrial chain has recently seen a serious imbalance, with prices for some intermediate products and raw materials fuctuating sharply beyond the nor-mal range,” according to a 18 November notice by the coun-try’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). “Hoarding and unfair competition have appeared in some segments, along with blind capacity expansions and low-price competition.”