Hong Kong stock concept tracking | Lithium iron phosphate industry is starting a wave of price increases. Institutions are optimistic about investment opportunities in the lithium industry chain in 2026 (with concept stocks)

Recently, the lithium iron phosphate industry has started a wave of intensive price increases, with leading manufacturers issuing clear price hike notices to customers. It is understood that a major manufacturer has clearly stated that processing fees for all series of lithium iron phosphate products will be uniformly increased starting in 2026. Industry insiders have revealed that some companies have already implemented price increases with customers. Some companies are still in intense negotiations with customers, but also acknowledge that "price hikes have become the trend," which is expected to restore industry profitability. According to The Guardian, the US Department of Defense is stockpiling critical minerals on a large scale through the National Defense Stockpile Program, including at least 38 minerals and metals such as lithium, cobalt, graphite, and rare earth elements, which are essential materials for energy transition. The China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance released monthly information on power batteries in November 2025. In November, the domestic power battery installed capacity was 93.5GWh, an increase of 11.2% month-on-month and 39.2% year-on-year. Among them, the installed capacity of ternary batteries was 18.2GWh, accounting for 19.4% of the total installed capacity, an increase of 9.9% month-on-month and 33.7% year-on-year; the installed capacity of lithium iron phosphate batteries was 75.3GWh, accounting for 80.5% of the total installed capacity, an increase of 11.6% month-on-month and 40.7% year-on-year. From January to November, the cumulative installed capacity of domestic power batteries was 671.5GWh, a cumulative year-on-year increase of 42.0%. Among them, the cumulative installed capacity of ternary batteries was 125.9GWh, accounting for 18.8% of the total installed capacity, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 1.0%; the cumulative installed capacity of lithium iron phosphate batteries was 545.5GWh, accounting for 81.2% of the total installed capacity, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 56.7%. According to the pre-production data released by Xinlu Lithium Battery Industry Chain for December, among the sample companies, battery production was 143.3GWh, an increase of 2.3% month-on-month, positive electrode materials were 187,000 tons, a decrease of 0.1% month-on-month, negative electrode materials were 154,000 tons, remaining flat month-on-month, separators were 1.98 billion square meters, an increase of 2.6% month-on-month, electrolytes were 109,000 tons, an increase of 1.4% month-on-month. Strong demand, marking the first month-on-month increase in battery production since 2022, with the peak season for grid-connected energy storage in the fourth quarter and continued high growth in sales of new energy vehicles in Europe. Jiang Anqi, Chairman of Tianqi Lithium Corporation, stated at the 2025 Second China International Lithium Industry Conference that with the rapid growth of the renewable energy grid integration demand and the electrification of commercial heavy-duty vehicles, the demand for basic lithium materials in the energy storage field and power batteries continues to rise. The global demand for lithium is forecasted to reach 2 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent in 2026, basically achieving supply-demand balance. With the improvement of the supply-demand pattern in the lithium industry, the industrial chain will break away from homogeneous competition, and companies will usher in greater development opportunities. It is worth mentioning that Li Liangbin, Chairman of Ganfeng Lithium Group, predicted that lithium carbonate demand will increase by 30% in 2026, reaching 1.9 million tons, while supply capacity will increase by 250,000 tons after evaluation, basically balancing supply and demand, with room for lithium carbonate prices to rise. If demand growth exceeds 30% next year, or even reaches 40%, short-term supply cannot balance, prices may surpass 150,000 yuan/ton or even 200,000 yuan/ton. China Securities Co., Ltd. released investment opportunities in the lithium industry chain in 2026, emphasizing the importance of self-sufficiency in resources, focusing on targets with significant production growth in the coming years; valuing low-cost high-quality resources, and quality targets that can withstand the bull and bear markets. A high resource self-sufficiency rate means stable raw material supply and high gross profit margins, escaping the risk of processing pure lithium salts turning towards low-profit processing in the future; as the status of lithium resources rises, countries overseas are increasingly valuing lithium. In addition, there are multiple mergers and acquisitions at the bottom of the industry, emphasizing low-cost high-quality resources, maintaining good production and operation at the bottom of the cycle, and having ample cash flow to carry out mergers and acquisitions at the bottom, with the ability to withstand the cycle. With the reduction in lithium price volatility, achieving a price that replicates the historical high of 600,000 yuan is becoming increasingly difficult, shifting the focus to the company's own growth and targets with significant growth in production capacity and output. Zhongtai's research report believes that with the continuous upward adjustment of energy storage demand expectations, the supply-demand pattern of lithium carbonate will greatly improve from the previous surplus expectation next year, and the equity side performance is worth looking forward to. Related Hong Kong-listed companies: Tianqi Lithium Corporation (09696): EVTank, jointly with EVI Economic Research Institute and China Battery Industry Research Institute, released the "China Lithium Metal Industry Development White Paper (2025)." According to the white paper, leading solid-state battery companies worldwide have begun to layout and research lithium metal for use in solid-state battery negative electrode materials. With the large-scale commercialization of all-solid-state batteries and the increasing penetration of lithium metal negative electrodes, it will open up a huge incremental market for lithium metal. Tianqi Lithium Corporation ranks second globally with a production capacity of 600 tons of lithium metal and 1,000 tons under construction. Ganfeng Lithium Group (01772): Ganfeng Lithium Group stated on its interactive platform that the company's energy storage cores have achieved large-scale production, established long-term stable supply cooperation with numerous industry-leading companies, and the company's energy storage core production capacity is now at full throttle. Against the backdrop of the current surge in energy storage demand, the company ensures stable delivery to customers by virtue of its integrated layout. In addition, Ganfeng Lithium Group stated that the company continues to develop in the power battery field, with solid-state batteries already being tested and put into production in some vehicle models and applied to well-known drones and eVTOL companies. The company is accelerating its industrialization process in new energy vehicles, consumer electronics, and other areas. Contemporary Amperex Technology (03750): As a global leader in the field of solid-state batteries, the company adopts a dual-track parallel strategy of "sulfide all-solid-state + condensed state semi-solid-state," with leading technology and production capacity in the industry. Condensed state batteries have been mass-produced and installed in vehicles such as the NIO ET9 and Xiaomi SU8, with an energy density of 400Wh/kg, contributing 18.6 billion yuan in revenue in the first half of 2025; sulfide all-solid-state batteries have achieved an energy density breakthrough of 500Wh/kg in laboratory samples. REPT BATTERO (00666): REPT BATTERO, as the lead unit for the "long-life, high-energy-density all-solid-state lithium battery" project, successfully entered the public list of Zhejiang Province's 2025 "Spearhead Leading + X" Science and Technology Plan. This project will further accelerate and deepen the company's research and development of all-solid-state batteries. In the field of all-solid-state batteries, through the "Spearhead Leading + X" technology project, the company's all-solid-state battery core is expected to exceed an energy density of 400Wh/kg, and the products will be widely used in passenger vehicles and low-altitude aircraft and other new application areas.