Media Reports, page-1651

The cost blow outs were within the contingency funds. The real cost blows will be for those trying to start a mine and build a concentrator plant.

Good news. Their margins are up because of the halving in the lithium price. The real reason why the current situation we find ourselves in may have been orchestrated. With sales booming, you'd think they must be out of inventory by now.

Top Battery-Maker CATL’s Profit Soars 63% Amid EV Sales Boom.
Net income, revenue both jump more than 50% to beat estimates. Strong growth in battery EV cells, energy storage business

Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd.’s quarterly profit soared, powered by rising electric-vehicle sales globally and stabilizing prices of key materials like lithium.

Net income rose 63% to 10.9 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) in the three months through June, based on a Bloomberg calculation of the company’s first-half financial statement released Tuesday. Revenue increased 56% to 100 billion yuan. Both figures beat analyst estimates.

Record quarterly sales for top customer Tesla Inc., which accounts for 12% of CATL’s revenue, according to supply-chain data compiled by Bloomberg, helped propel the Fujian-based company’s profit growth.

CATL Fends Off Growing Competition in Domestic Battery Space

Of the top 5 Chinese EV cell makers, CATL retains large lead over BYD

Source: China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance

CATL, which also counts Ford Motor Co., Volkswagen AG, Hyundai Motor Co. and Nio Inc. among its customers, has tightened its grip on the global EV battery market as it ramps up output. Its share in the first five months of 2023 was 36.3%, up 1.7 percentage point from the same period last year, according to SNE Research. Shenzhen-based BYD Co. had a 16.1% share, producing batteries used in its expanding lineup of clean cars.

The Chinese price of lithium carbonate, a refined form of the metal used in EV batteries, has halved from last year, easing CATL’s cost pressures.