Driven by the global energy transition and the wave of electrification of transportation, the lithium-ion battery materials industry has experienced explosive growth over the past few years, and has also endured the resulting overcapacity and sharp price fluctuations. Guangzhou Tianci High-Tech Materials Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Tianci Materials”) has recently passed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing hearing as a leading company for ten consecutive years in electrolyte shipments.
This A-share listed company, which was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange as early as 2014, is now only one step away from landing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. If successfully listed, Tianci Materials will form an “A+H” dual capital platform pattern, opening up new financing channels for its global production capacity layout and R&D investment.
Industry demand has been improving for a long time, and the competitive landscape continues to be intense
Judging from the fundamentals of the industry, the track where Tianci Materials is located has a clear long-term growth logic.
According to Insight Consulting data, the global lithium battery market is expected to grow from 2257.0 gigawatt-hours in 2025 to 6284.3 gigawatt-hours in 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 22.7%. Among them, global electrolyte shipments are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22.2% to 5.4673 million tons during the same period, and the growth rates of lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) and lithium difluorosulfonimide (LiFSi) are 19.1% and 40.3%, respectively. As the three application scenarios of downstream power batteries, energy storage systems, and consumer electronics continue to expand, superimposed the expansion of emerging fields such as eVTOL, humanoid robots, and ship electrification, it provides long-term demand support for key materials such as electrolytes and cathode materials. At the same time, the industrialization process of solid-state batteries is also accelerating. The global solid-state electrolyte market is expected to grow from about 10 billion yuan (RMB, same below) in 2030 to about 116 billion yuan in 2040. This has also opened up new growth space for material companies with technical reserves.
Judging from the competitive landscape, the electrolyte industry is highly concentrated. In 2025, the top five global electrolyte suppliers accounted for a total market share of about 75.5%, and Tianci Materials ranked first with a 36.0% share; in the two core solute fields of LiPF6 and LiFSi, their global shipment shares reached 38.2% and 47.2% respectively, which also ranked first. In the field of cathode precursor iron phosphate (FePO4), the company ranked fifth in the world with a 3.6% share; in the field of lithium battery PACK structural adhesives, it ranked third in the world with a 9.7% share. This multi-point leading pattern not only reflects the advantages of the company's vertical integration and R&D platform, but also means that its business performance is highly tied to the overall prosperity of the industry.
However, the other side of long-term positive demand is the sharp price fluctuations that the industry has experienced in recent years. From 2020 to 2022, due to a surge in downstream demand and a shortage of raw materials such as lithium carbonate, the price of electrolyte rose sharply; however, starting in 2023, upstream production capacity was released centrally, and the supply growth rate surpassed the growth rate of downstream demand. Combined, market competition intensified, and the price of electrolytes and core raw materials declined markedly.
Vertical integration to build a cost moat
According to the prospectus, Tianci Materials' business is mainly divided into two major sectors: lithium-ion battery materials, daily chemical materials, and specialty chemicals. Among them, lithium-ion battery materials are the absolute core, contributing about 90% of revenue during the reporting period. The products include electrolytes and their core materials, cathode materials, lithium battery adhesives, and lithium carbonate. Daily chemical materials and specialty chemicals include carbomers, surfactants, silicone oils, cationic conditioners, etc.
The company's core competitive barrier is deep vertical integration. As of June 30, 2026, Tianci Materials' self-supply ratio of LiPF6, LiFSi, DTD additives and high-purity lithium carbonate reached 99.3%, 97.1%, 80.8%, and 100.0% respectively, which is at the leading level in the industry. This self-supply capacity not only guarantees a stable supply of key raw materials, but also significantly reduces the impact of fluctuations in external procurement costs during the downward price cycle. The company pioneered the industrial production of liquid LiPF6 and liquid LiFSi, using a continuous solvent process. According to consulting data, the unit investment cost of liquid LiPF6 is about 40% of the solid state method, and electricity consumption is reduced by about 65%. In terms of lithium iron phosphate cathode materials, the company's original rotary kiln sintering process reduces energy consumption by more than 48% compared to traditional roller kiln processes. Furthermore, the company has established an internal circular economy system to recover sulfuric acid generated during LiPF6 production for iron phosphate production, and collect, purify, and reuse hydrogen chloride exhaust gas, a by-product of LiFSi production, further reducing overall costs.
According to the Zhitong Finance App, the average selling price of Tianci Materials' electrolyte and core materials plummeted 45.0% from 3,2482 yuan per ton in 2023 to 17,862 yuan in 2024, and further dropped to 16,885 yuan in 2025. However, it was not until the end of 2025 that prices gradually rebounded, driven by improvements in the supply and demand pattern and rising costs of key raw materials. In the first half of 2026, the average selling price rebounded to 26,283 yuan per ton, an increase of 61.2% over 16,306 yuan in the same period in 2025. This sharp price fluctuation directly affects the revenue and profit performance of all participants in the industry, and also forms the core background for understanding changes in Tianci Materials' financial data.
Significant recovery in performance since the first half of the year
This price cycle is particularly directly reflected in the company's revenue and profit. From 2023 to 2025, the company's revenue was 15.405 billion yuan, 12.518 billion yuan and 16.650 billion yuan respectively, showing a “V-shaped” trend; net profit for the same period was 1,842 billion yuan, 478 million yuan and 1,344 billion yuan respectively, with fluctuations far greater than revenue. Among them, 2024 became a low performance point, mainly because the average sales price of electrolytes and core materials fell sharply by 45.0% year on year. Although sales increased from 405,000 tons to 537,000 tons, the impact of the price drop on revenue was not offset. In 2025, as sales increased further to 773,000 tons, an increase of 43.9%, revenue returned to the growth trajectory, but the average sales price still declined to 16,885 yuan per ton. This made the recovery of net profit during the period more dependent on sales expansion and cost control rather than price recovery.
Entering the first half of 2026, there was a significant recovery in the company's performance. For the six months ended June 30, 2026, revenue reached 14.710 billion yuan, up 109.3% from 7.029 billion yuan in the same period in 2025; gross profit was 4.935 billion yuan, up 275.7% from 1,314 billion yuan in the same period in 2025; and gross margin increased sharply from 18.7% to 33.5%. Net profit jumped to 2,847 million yuan from 265 million yuan in the same period last year. The core driving force behind this improvement is the rapid growth in demand for downstream energy storage and new energy vehicles, exceeding the industry's capacity expansion rate, leading to a phased imbalance between supply and demand, and driving a significant recovery in the prices of electrolytes and LiPF6 products. The average sales price of electrolytes and core materials rose from 16,306 yuan per ton in the first half of 2025 to 26,283 yuan in the first half of 2026. Sales also increased from 337,000 tons to 462,000 tons, and volume and price increased sharply.
In terms of customer structure, Tianci Materials covers the world's leading battery manufacturers and car companies. Among them, in 2025, 8 of the top ten power battery manufacturers in the world, all of the top ten energy storage battery manufacturers, and 9 of the top ten consumer battery manufacturers have become their customers or have adopted the company's products in their supply chains. However, this deep binding also raised concerns about high customer concentration — during the reporting period, the top five customers contributed 71.2%, 58.7%, 58.5%, and 64.4% of revenue, respectively, with the largest customers accounting for 52.7%, 40.0%, 36.1%, and 42.9%, respectively.
The global layout is an important direction for the company's current strategy. As of June 30, 2026, the company has 17 production sites in operation in China and has commissioned four processing suppliers in the US, Germany, the Czech Republic and Thailand. In June 2025, the company signed an investment agreement with the Moroccan government to invest about US$280 million to build an integrated base with an annual output of 150,000 tons of electrolyte and core materials, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2028. Meanwhile, in early 2025, the company set up a joint venture with an American industrial group to build a production base with an annual output of 200,000 tons of electrolyte in Texas. The implementation of overseas production capacity is seen as a key measure to get closer to European and American customers and reduce logistics costs and trade risks.
Upon the successful implementation of the Hong Kong stock listing, Tianci Materials will form an “A+H” dual capital platform to provide key financial support for the construction of two major overseas bases in Morocco and the United States. The company's leading position in the field of electrolytes, deep self-supply capacity for key raw materials, and vertical integration and circular economy models all form a rare cost moat in the industry. The significant recovery in performance in the first half of 2026 fully verified its profit elasticity under the improved supply and demand pattern. As global demand for lithium batteries continues to expand and new technology reserves such as solid electrolytes are gradually implemented, Tianci Materials is expected to use an international production capacity layout to get closer to European and American customers and open up new growth space in the leading position of electrolytes in the world.