Eve Energy has locked a 450,000-ton supply order with Tianci Materials, and what it is scrambling for is not the electrolyte, but the production capacity priority of lithium hexafluorophosphate.

Tinci has secured long-term supply agreements for nearly 4 million tons of electrolyte leveraging its integrated advantages in lithium hexafluorophosphate.

Energy Insights learned that on the evening of November 5, Tinci Materials announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Jiujiang Tinci has signed a Long-Term Supply Agreement with EVE Energy, under which an estimated 450,000 tons of electrolyte will be supplied from 2027 to 2029, with a floating range of 20% allowed for execution, and the agreement will remain valid until the end of 2029.

It is understood that the total supply volume locked in by Tinci Materials through framework agreements in the past three years has approached 4 million tons, covering clients including Chuangneng New Energy, CALB, Gotion High-Tech, and REPT, while CATL is not on the list.

For this agreement without a fixed price, battery manufacturers are not competing for finished electrolyte products, but for the narrow supply channel during the lithium hexafluorophosphate capacity expansion cycle, as well as the priority access right to this channel.

The 450,000-ton agreement between Tinci and EVE is signed against the 2027 capacity schedule

EVE Energy does not lack finished electrolyte products. What it lacks is the guaranteed timely supply of lithium hexafluorophosphate when its 30GWh large cylindrical base in Hungary is put into operation in 2027.

The total investment of this base is about 9.971 billion yuan, focusing on 46-series large cylindrical batteries to provide local supporting services for European clients such as BMW, and its commissioning is scheduled for 2027.

The capacity expansion of finished electrolyte only takes half a year to one year, while lithium hexafluorophosphate is classified as a hazardous chemical, and it takes at least 18 to 24 months from approval and design to completion and commissioning.

What EVE has locked is not Tinci's electrolyte storage tanks, but the priority for Tinci's lithium hexafluorophosphate capacity allocation.

Tinci currently has an equivalent solid capacity of about 140,000 tons per year, and its 200,000-ton annual liquid lithium hexafluorophosphate project is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, bringing the total equivalent solid capacity to 200,000 tons by then; the 20,000-ton refined production capacity for VC additives was put into operation in mid-2026.

Tinci's self-sufficiency rate of lithium hexafluorophosphate exceeds 98%, and what EVE wants is to ensure that there will be no gap in this self-sufficiency rate in 2027.

From daily chemical manufacturer to integrated leader, Tinci's core advantage does not lie in its electrolyte storage tanks

Tinci Materials started its business with daily chemical materials in 2000, and realized large-scale production of lithium hexafluorophosphate in 2011, making it the first enterprise in China to break through this technology. Later, it extended its business to the upstream sectors of hydrofluoric acid and lithium ore processing along the integrated path, and deployed downstream additives such as LiFSI, VC, and DTD.

In 2025, Tinci's electrolyte shipment reached 720,000 tons, accounting for 32.2% of the global market share and ranking first for ten consecutive years.

This solid foundation of integration has become its negotiation qualification amid the boom of long-term supply agreements. The supply volume for Chuangneng New Energy has been raised from no less than 550,000 tons to no less than 1.01 million tons, with an increase of over 80%, and the cooperation is valid until the end of 2030. The figure is 725,000 tons for CALB, 870,000 tons for Gotion High-Tech, and no less than 800,000 tons for REPT until the end of 2030. The reason why clients are willing to sign 3-5 year supply contracts with Tinci does not lie in the electrolyte formula, but in its lithium hexafluorophosphate capacity.

The production cost of Tinci's liquid lithium hexafluorophosphate process is 15% to 20% lower than the industry average. When the price fluctuates with the market, Tinci's cost curve is significantly lower than that of manufacturers that purchase lithium hexafluorophosphate from external suppliers. In the first three quarters of 2026, Tinci recorded a revenue of 23.542 billion yuan, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 3.902 billion yuan, up 827.68% year on year, with its capacity utilization rate close to full production.

At the same time, the absence of CATL should also be viewed under the same logic. The last material supply agreement between Tinci and CATL was signed in 2024, and it was fully implemented on December 31, 2025, and no new agreement has been announced since then.

CATL has allocated 770,000 tons of long-term supply orders to New Zhuzhou and Yongtai Technology, but the total locked order volume of these two manufacturers in 2026 is only 120,000 tons, while CATL's electrolyte demand in 2026 may be close to 900,000 tons, and the gap is far from being filled by these two suppliers.

The 470,000-ton agreement with Yongtai Technology comes with a strict hard condition: the raw material price must be "competitive compared with other suppliers in CATL's supplier system", and CATL has the right to adjust the procurement volume when major changes occur in the market.

This agreement only gives CATL bargaining chips, not a substitute for Tinci's production capacity. Tinci's capacity utilization rate is almost at full capacity. What the two sides lack is not the willingness to cooperate, but a number that is acceptable to both parties.

Manufacturers without self-produced lithium hexafluorophosphate are disappearing from the long-term supply agreement list

In the first half of 2026, the domestic electrolyte production capacity was close to 5.8 million tons per year, while the annual shipment is estimated to be only 2.7 million to 3 million tons. There is a severe overcapacity at the finished product end, while the supply of lithium hexafluorophosphate and VC is in a tight balance. In July 2025, the price of lithium hexafluorophosphate hit a low point of 47,000 yuan per ton, falling below the cost line of most second and third-tier manufacturers, and the industry experienced a deep round of capacity clearing.

The surviving lithium hexafluorophosphate capacity is concentrated in leading enterprises, and the new entrants' capacity has either not been officially put into operation, or cannot operate stably.

The distribution of long-term supply agreements is the projection of this capacity clearing map.

Tinci's capacity utilization rate is about 85% to 90%, while Shida Shenghua only has an electrolyte capacity utilization rate of 23%, and Kunlun New Materials recorded capacity utilization rates of 43.9%, 34.3% and 53.2% respectively from 2023 to the first three quarters of 2025, with about half of its capacity idle for a long time.

It is reported that Kunlun New Materials is highly dependent on a single client. After failing to get listed on A-share market, it turned to the Hong Kong stock market, planning to expand its annual production capacity from 180,000 tons to 500,000 tons. Expanding its capacity by nearly three times when the capacity utilization rate is only 50% will only bring greater idle capacity risks.

Long-term supply agreements have changed from "insurance" to "admission tickets". Manufacturers that cannot sign long-term contracts are not waiting for the next market cycle, but waiting to be cleared out of the industry.

EVE's 450,000-ton agreement is only the latest puzzle piece in Tinci's long-term supply agreement landscape. Tinci has locked most leading battery manufacturers into its lithium hexafluorophosphate supply sequence with a total framework volume of nearly 4 million tons, while CATL has maximized its bargaining space by splitting the 770,000-ton order among multiple suppliers.

Long-term agreements without fixed prices actually lock in the priority access to the supply channel before the batch of lithium hexafluorophosphate capacity planned for 2027 is completed. Manufacturers outside the channel no longer have the next cycle to wait for.