6 Million Tonnes! Over USD 34.78 Billion Lithium Iron Phosphate Orders Locked In

Published on: January 16, 2026 15:09:00 

Keywords: Lithium Battery 

The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) market is experiencing a sustained boom. Over the past year, numerous battery manufacturers including CATL, BYD, EVE Energy, Sunwoda, and Chuneng New Energy have been aggressively procuring LFP materials. According to statistics from Battery China, the total procurement volume of LFP materials by these manufacturers alone has reached 6 million tonnes, with order value exceeding RMB 240 billion (equivalent to over USD 34.78 billion). 

"Mid-to-high-end LFP products are in short supply," said enterprises such as Longpan Technology, Wanhua New Energy, Fulin Precision, Fengyuan Co., Ltd., and Ronbay Technology. They are "swamped with orders" and their production lines are operating at full capacity. 

With LFP prices rising and capacity expanding, a new strong cycle has begun. 

 01 Over USD 34.78 Billion in LFP Orders 

Public information shows that CATL is the largest buyer in this procurement spree, with LFP procurement volume exceeding 4.5 million tonnes and an amount surpassing RMB 180 billion (equivalent to over USD 26.09 billion). Among them, in 2025, CATL reached cooperation agreements with Longpan Technology, Wanhua New Energy, and Fulin Precision respectively, with a total LFP procurement value exceeding RMB 60 billion (equivalent to over USD 8.70 billion) and a volume of more than 1.5 million tonnes. 

- In January 2025, Longpan Technology announced an agreement with CATL to supply LFP materials to CATL within 2025, with an estimated sales ceiling of RMB 7 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 1.01 billion). 

- In May 2025, Wanhua New Energy announced the signing of an agreement with CATL. From May 2025 to May 2030, it is expected to supply approximately 1.32 million tonnes of LFP to CATL, with an estimated order value of over RMB 46 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 6.67 billion). The two parties will jointly promote the iteration and mass production of high compaction density LFP. 

- In September 2025, Fulin Precision announced that its holding subsidiary Jiangxi Shenghua signed an agreement with CATL, under which CATL paid a RMB 1.5 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 217.39 million) advance payment to lock in LFP supply. Also in September, Longpan Technology signed another agreement with CATL. From Q2 2026 to 2031, it will supply a total of 157,500 tonnes of LFP to CATL's overseas factories, with an amount of over RMB 6 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 869.57 million).  

Entering 2026, CATL dropped an even bigger order "bomb". On January 13, Ronbay Technology announced that the company had signed an agreement with CATL. Starting from Q1 2026 to 2031, Ronbay Technology will supply a total of 3.05 million tonnes of LFP materials for CATL's domestic region, with an estimated value exceeding RMB 120 billion (equivalent to over USD 17.39 billion). 

Chuneng New Energy, which has emerged prominently in recent years, placed a large order of nearly RMB 50 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 7.25 billion). 

- In October 2025, Fengyuan Co., Ltd. signed an agreement with Chuneng New Energy. Over the next three years, its subsidiary Fengyuan Lithium Energy will supply 100,000 tonnes of LFP to Chuneng New Energy, with an estimated order value of RMB 3.2 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 463.77 million). 

- In November 2025, Longpan Technology signed an agreement with Chuneng New Energy. From 2025 to 2030, it will sell a total of 1.3 million tonnes of LFP to Chuneng New Energy, with an order value exceeding RMB 45 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 6.52 billion). 

Both EVE Energy and Sunwoda issued orders exceeding 100,000 tonnes: 

- In June 2025, Asia Pacific Lithium Source, a great-grandson subsidiary of Longpan Technology, signed an agreement with EVE Energy. From 2026 to 2030, it will sell 152,000 tonnes of LFP to EVE Energy, with an estimated order value of over RMB 5 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 724.64 million). 

- In December 2025, Longpan Technology announced that Asia Pacific Lithium Source signed an agreement with Sunwoda. From 2026 to 2030, it will sell 106,800 tonnes of LFP to Sunwoda, with an order value of approximately RMB 4.5-5.5 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 652.17-797.10 million). 

BYD has established cooperation with Fengyuan Co., Ltd. and Xingfa Group: 

- In April 2025, Fengyuan Lithium Energy, a subsidiary of Fengyuan Co., Ltd., signed an agreement with Huizhou BYD Battery. The two parties will carry out cooperation in the procurement and development of LFP materials from 2025 to 2028. 

- In December 2025, Hubei Xingshun, a subsidiary of Xingfa Group, signed an agreement with Qinghai Fudi under BYD. Qinghai Fudi will entrust Hubei Xingshun to process and produce 80,000 tonnes/year of LFP products. 

This wave of LFP orders is characterized by high buyer concentration, long-term locking, and premium driven by high-endization. According to industry analysis, CATL's procurement volume accounts for about 70% of the total industry procurement volume, reflecting a highly concentrated supply chain; most agreements have a term of 5-6 years, indicating that the industry is shifting from "spot game" to "capacity binding"; enterprises such as Wanhua New Energy have clearly cooperated with CATL on high compaction density products, and technical barriers have become the core of pricing. 

Notably, the cooperation between BYD and Xingfa Group is believed by the market to may indicate the rise of the OEM model. Xingfa Group has entered BYD's supply chain through a "processing fee" model, and asset-light operation can reduce capital pressure. This may become the future market fate of small and medium-sized LFP manufacturers. 

 02 Prices to Continue Rising 

Driven by the booming market and the soaring price of lithium carbonate, LFP prices have continued to rise sharply. As of mid-January 2026, the price of LFP has exceeded RMB 55,000 per tonne (equivalent to approximately USD 7,971 per tonne); among them, the average price of power-type LFP is about RMB 58,000 per tonne (equivalent to approximately USD 8,406 per tonne), with the highest quotation exceeding RMB 60,000 per tonne (equivalent to approximately USD 8,696 per tonne); the average price of energy storage-type LFP is about RMB 56,000 per tonne (equivalent to approximately USD 8,116 per tonne). 

The "roller coaster" trend of LFP prices is thrilling. Industry data shows that in November 2022, the price of LFP once surged to a historical high of RMB 177,000 per tonne (equivalent to approximately USD 25,652 per tonne), then fluctuated downward all the way, dropping to a low of RMB 30,000 per tonne (equivalent to approximately USD 4,348 per tonne) in June 2025, a drop of over 83% (note: the original text mentions a drop of over 90%, which is a calculation error; the actual drop from 177,000 to 30,000 is about 83%). Today, the price of LFP has almost doubled in just six months. 

It is worth noting that since December 2025, Hunan Yuneng, Desay Nano, Longpan Technology, Wanhua New Energy, Anda Technology, Tianli Lithium Energy, etc. have successively announced production line maintenance and production cuts of LFP. Industry analysts believe that reduced supply will support the rise of spot LFP prices. As a key material for lithium batteries, the market demand for LFP remains strong, and this partial supply contraction may be beneficial to market prices. 

At the same time, some leading LFP manufacturers have also announced plans to uniformly increase the processing fee of their entire series of LFP products by RMB 3,000 per tonne (equivalent to approximately USD 435 per tonne) starting from January 2026. The industry expects that the upward trend of LFP prices will continue until Q4 2026. 

In terms of market products, new LFP materials such as high compaction density and fast-charging types are increasingly becoming mainstream. Data shows that currently, the shipment proportion of the fourth-generation high compaction density products of leading enterprises has exceeded 30%, and the industry expects this proportion to rise to 50% in 2026. According to industry feedback, high compaction density LFP with a compaction density of 2.6g/cm³ can obtain a premium of RMB 1,000-3,000 per tonne (equivalent to approximately USD 145-435 per tonne) compared with ordinary products. 

 03 The Matthew Effect Will Become More Prominent 

According to statistics from relevant institutions, the domestic LFP material shipments reached 3.9 million tonnes in 2025, and the domestic market demand is expected to reach 6 million tonnes in 2026, with the overall industry growth rate maintaining a high level of 40%-50%. In terms of supply, China's LFP output was 3.92 million tonnes in 2025, of which Hunan Yuneng ranked first with an annual output exceeding 1 million tonnes, forming the first echelon; enterprises in the second echelon have an annual output concentrated in the range of 200,000-400,000 tonnes. 

Numerous LFP manufacturers have successively launched capacity expansion plans. For example: 

- In January 2026, Fulin Precision plans to issue stocks to CATL to raise RMB 3.175 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 460.14 million) for the construction of a 500,000-tonne/year high-end energy storage LFP project, etc. 

- In October 2025, Jiangxi Shenghua, a subsidiary of Fulin Precision, plans to invest RMB 4 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 579.71 million) to build a 350,000-tonne/year new type high compaction density LFP project in Sichuan. 

- In addition, Longpan Technology plans to invest RMB 2 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 289.86 million) to build a new 240,000-tonne/year high compaction LFP production base in Changzhou; Wanhua New Energy will upgrade and adjust 120,000-tonne/year of the production line in the "240,000-tonne/year LFP project" of Lubei Wanhua to high compaction density products; Desay Nano cooperates with CATL to build an 80,000-tonne/year LFP project with a total investment of approximately RMB 1.8 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 260.87 million). 

The strong demand from the downstream market and rising prices have finally brought a "long-awaited spring" to the LFP industry. At the same time, as mid-to-high-end LFP products become the focus of competition, their high technical barriers will further eliminate the weak through competition, and the Matthew Effect of "the strong getting stronger" will become more prominent. 

Source: Battery China Network