Sealand: In 2026, a variety of scenarios will resonate with the dynamic storage, and the demand for lithium batteries in the industry will continue to rise.

Sealand released a research report stating that with the high prosperity growth in the lithium battery industry demand by 2026, the price recovery of key materials in the midstream of the lithium battery industry is expected to continue, and the industrialization of new lithium battery technologies is progressing. The main theme of improving battery quality and efficiency remains unchanged, and with the improvement of supply and demand relations, the prices in the industry chain are expected to continue to rise. The industry fundamentals are expected to improve, maintaining a "recommended" rating. Sealand's main points are as follows: Demand for energy storage resonates in multiple scenarios, and industry demand continues to rise Driven by policy support, increased battery capacity, and new scenarios and markets, energy demand is resilient. The strong growth in installed capacity of power batteries will be realized in 2025. Looking ahead to 2026, the continuation of the "two new" policies will support domestic demand; the increase in single-vehicle battery capacity under the background of optimized driving experience will drive structural growth; the economic drive for electric heavy-duty trucks will create new demand growth opportunities; and the logic of overseas European markets is still driving, with the expected high growth in energy demand driven by new models. With the promotion of electricity marketization, reinforced power grids, and emerging applications, energy storage demand is expected to maintain strong growth. The power marketization reform, combined with the implementation of capacity-based electricity pricing, opens up economic space, and domestic demand for energy storage installations is expected to continue to grow. With the improvement of the large storage income mechanism, there is growth potential in the European market. Orders placed before 2025 will gradually be released, and potential increases in emerging markets are expected. In terms of emerging applications, there is vast market potential for AIDC storage, with global potential reaching the hundred GWh level. With the improvement of supply and demand relations, the industrial chain prices continue to rise, and there is room for further recovery Driven by demand, the energy storage battery market has entered a tight balance, with significant price recovery in 2025, and the main materials prices are expected to continue to recover further in 2026. The lithium hexafluorophosphate industry cycle has reversed, showing gradual upward elasticity; positive signals are emerging in wet-process separators, with the potential for further recovery; the measures to prevent the internal folding of lithium iron phosphate support, and the increase in operating rates are expected to drive continuous profit improvement; leading negative electrode manufacturers maintain relatively profitable capabilities, and with the advancement of overseas projects, profitability optimization can be expected. The copper foil section has basically bottomed out, and the improvement in supply and demand, coupled with product upgrading, is expected to open up new opportunities. Industrialization of new technologies: The main theme of improving battery quality and efficiency remains unchanged, expecting more "from 1 to 10" moments With a clearer path, the industrialization of solid-state batteries is expected to accelerate. The path for sulfide electrolytes is becoming clearer, with material support becoming more complete; on the equipment end, continuous follow-up gradually opens up engineering bottlenecks; with multiple lines running in parallel, the industrialization process is expected to accelerate. Leading enterprises and emerging scenarios open up growth space for sodium batteries. Leading enterprises are once again focusing on sodium batteries, targeting multiple mainstream application scenarios for industrialization, with expected high production volumes; in terms of emerging applications, domestic manufacturers have already laid out in the AIDC storage market and other areas. With models gradually entering mass production and the improvement of supply chain support, the industrialization of large cylindrical batteries is imminent. Investment advice Leading midstream materials companies benefiting from the optimized supply and demand structure and continuous price recovery: 6F (Guangzhou Tinci Materials Technology, Do-Fluoride New Materials, Tonze New Energy Technology), lithium battery separators (Yunnan Energy New Material, Shenzhen Senior Technology Material, Fspg Hi-Tech), lithium iron phosphate cathode (Hunan Yuneng New Energy Battery Material, Fulin Precision, Hubei Wanrun New Energy Technology), negative electrodes (Shijiazhuang Shangtai Technology, Hunan Zhongke Electric), lithium battery copper foil (Guangdong Jiayuan Technology, Jiujiang Defu Technology, Anhui Tongguan Copper Foil Group). Battery industry leaders promoting product structure upgrades through research and development advantages: energy storage batteries (Contemporary Amperex Technology, Eve Energy Co., Ltd., Sunwoda Electronic). Stable fundamentals supported by the industrialization of new technologies for battery leaders and material manufacturers: leading solid-state battery materials and equipment (Xtc New Energy Materials (Xiamen) Co., Ltd., NAKNOR, Shanghai Putailai New Energy Technology Group), sodium battery industry chain leaders (Jiangsu Dingsheng New Materials Joint-Stock, Minmetals New Energy Materials (Hunan) Co., Ltd., Guizhou Zhenhua E-chem Inc., Hunan Zhongke Electric, Fujian Yuanli Active Carbon, Ningbo Ronbay New Energy Technology), leading large-cylindrical battery industry chains (Eve Energy Co., Ltd., Do-Fluoride New Materials, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt). Risk warning: Global demand below expectations, supply chain release speed faster than expected, competition intensifies faster than expected, overseas policy risks exceed expectations, industrialization of new technologies progresses slower than expected, significant changes in the technological path of new technology industrialization, large fluctuations in upstream raw material prices.