On the evening of August 12, Guangdong Dowstone Technology Co., Ltd. announced its decision to re-evaluate and temporarily suspend the "Annual 100,000-tonne Ternary Precursor Project" and the "Dowstone New Energy Recycling Research Institute Project."
It is reported that the ternary precursor project was planned to include Phase I with 70,000 tonnes of ternary precursors and supporting 30,000 tonnes of nickel sulfate, with an intended investment of Yuan 1.706 billion in raised funds.
In fact, the project had already been delayed once in 2023. According to an October 2023 announcement, Dowstone initially planned to complete 30,000 tonnes of ternary precursor capacity by May 2024, with the remaining capacity scheduled for completion by December 31, 2025. However, as of June 30, 2025, only 18.67% of the project had been completed, and now it has been fully suspended.
Regarding the reasons for the change, Dowstone attributed the decision to significant shifts in market conditions during project implementation. On one hand, the growth of China's EV market has slowed, while overseas EV markets have underperformed expectations. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, with their cost advantages, have squeezed the market share of ternary batteries, indirectly impacting the upstream ternary precursor industry. On the other hand, emerging applications such as embodied AI and low-altitude economy have created new demand, but the need for high-performance ternary precursors has yet to reach economies of scale and will require more time to mature.
The Recycling Research Institute Project, which was also suspended, had a planned investment of Yuan 99.2004 million in raised funds. As of June 30, 2025, no raised funds had been utilized for this project.
Edited by Cassie Li, lixiangying@mysteel.com
