The lithium battery industry is witnessing the rise of specialized chemical capabilities, creating high-value products, securing major long-term supply agreements, and even achieving independent public listings. These capabilities are now extending into new sectors like sodium-ion batteries and semiconductors.
On July 2nd, Jihocan landed on the Beijing Stock Exchange. In the preceding week, Yongtai Technology Co., Ltd. signed a long-term supply cooperation agreement for VC (vinylene carbonate) with CATL (CATL), extending supply arrangements until 2029. Prior to this, the two parties had already agreed on a total procurement volume of approximately 470,000 tons of electrolyte over the next three years. On June 30th, Yongtai Technology released its performance forecast: it expects to achieve a net profit attributable to shareholders of 265 to 330 million yuan in the first half of 2026, representing year-on-year growth of 350.68% to 461.22%.
The performance of Do-Fluoride New Materials Co., Ltd. is also continuing its upward trajectory. In the first quarter of 2026, the company achieved operating revenue of 3.216 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 53.26%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 376 million yuan, surging 480.14% year-on-year, with the primary growth drivers being the new energy materials and battery segments.
As the lithium battery industry deepens its expansion, capabilities originally dispersed across sectors like electroplating, fluorine-containing fine chemicals, and basic fluorine chemical engineering are being amplified into clearer revenue streams, orders, and profits. Jihocan started with electroplating and surface treatment chemicals; Yongtai Technology has long been involved in fluorine-containing pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and fine chemicals; Do-Fluoride's earliest core products were inorganic fluorides serving the electrolytic aluminum industry. None originated from the lithium battery sector, yet during this lithium battery cycle, they have leveraged their foundational chemical expertise into significantly larger businesses.
The Lithium Battery Catalyst for Billion-Yuan Fine Chemical Businesses
Jihocan achieved operating revenue of approximately 530 million yuan in 2025, of which new energy battery materials contributed 184 million yuan, accounting for 34.75%. The company's largest single product, SPS, is used in the electrodeposition process of lithium battery copper foil, influencing grain structure, tensile strength, and elongation. In 2025, Jihocan's SPS sales volume reached 1,021 tons, generating revenue of 122 million yuan, or 23.15% of total revenue; overall revenue from lithium battery copper foil additives reached 136 million yuan. For a company with annual revenue around 500 million yuan, over 20% comes from a single copper foil additive. A niche market with an annual scale of only a few billion yuan has consequently produced an independent publicly listed company. This occurrence in 2026 is not coincidental.
Over the past decade, the most prominent companies in the lithium battery industry have concentrated on batteries, the four major key materials, and equipment. After several rounds of capacity expansion, public listings, and industry consolidation, the leading players and mainstream mass-production technologies have become relatively stable. Batteries continue to be upgraded, but many improvements focus on specific metrics like fast charging, high voltage, wide temperature range operation, copper foil thinning, and cycle life. As these metrics advance, material systems must continue to be adjusted.
Additives, electrolyte salts, and surface treatment agents are used in limited quantities but directly participate in interface film formation, ion conduction, grain control, and suppression of side reactions. As the scale of the lithium battery industry has expanded, these products have begun to warrant dedicated production capacity, separate revenue accounting, and the emergence of leading suppliers.
The cooperation between Yongtai Technology and CATL initially focused on core electrolyte raw materials like lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6), LiFSI, and VC. In 2024, the cooperation expanded to include the electrolyte itself. By 2026, the two parties renegotiated their electrolyte procurement plan for the next three years and separately signed a long-term VC agreement. From 2027 to 2029, the planned VC supply volume totals approximately 90,000 tons, with actual execution still subject to specific orders. The partnership has evolved from lithium salts and additives to electrolytes, further deepening the security of supply for key additives. Yongtai Technology subsequently announced plans to expand its VC production capacity.
In the first half of 2026, the company expects a net profit attributable to shareholders of 265 to 330 million yuan, surging 350.68% to 461.22% year-on-year, with the main growth drivers being increased volume and prices for LiPF6, LiFSI, VC, and electrolytes.
The amplification effect is even more direct for Do-Fluoride. The company transforms industrial-grade raw materials into high-purity LiPF6, relying on continuous gas generation, synthesis, crystallization, and control over purity and batch consistency. In 2025, its designed LiPF6 production capacity reached 65,000 tons, with a capacity utilization rate of 70%–80%; in Q1 2026, the new energy materials and battery segment once again drove revenue and profit growth.
Jihocan has developed a billion-yuan single product, Yongtai Technology has entered CATL's long-term procurement system, and Do-Fluoride has repeatedly reshaped its profit curve through a key electrolyte salt. Capabilities originally serving electroplating, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and basic fluorine chemical engineering have, during the lithium battery cycle, gained larger production volumes, higher revenue contribution, and a clearer industrial position.
Expanding Within Lithium and Extending to the Next Wave
Jihocan entered the lithium battery copper foil field by applying its capabilities in sulfonate derivative synthesis, surface treatment, and formulation application. Yongtai Technology moved from pharmaceutical and agrochemical intermediates to lithium salts and additives, still relying on the synthesis, purification, and scaled manufacturing of fluorine-containing molecules. Do-Fluoride's transition from inorganic fluorides to LiPF6 involved mastering continuous synthesis, crystallization, and high-purity control.
Once products enter the systems of leading customers, they must simultaneously meet requirements for batch consistency, trace impurities, continuous production, cost, and delivery. Hundreds of thousands of tons of electrolyte, thousands of tons of copper foil additives, and tens of thousands of tons of electrolyte salts constitute a high-intensity industrial validation process.
In this wave of technological innovation, these capabilities are being recognized by new applications. Do-Fluoride has expanded its electrolyte salt portfolio from LiPF6 to LiFSI and sodium hexafluorophosphate and applied its high-purity capabilities to electronic-grade hydrofluoric acid. Jihocan's raised capital is directed toward photovoltaic materials and electroplating chemicals for integrated circuits. Yongtai Technology's fluorine-containing products already span pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, battery materials, and fluorinated fluids.
Migration still requires re-experiencing customer certification, cost competition, and production ramp-up. Do-Fluoride's electronic-grade hydrofluoric acid has a designed capacity of 80,000 tons, but its capacity utilization rate in 2025 was still 30%–40%; Jihocan's integrated circuit project is also just entering the construction phase. However, the direction is clear.
The battery and four major key materials sectors have produced a group of established leaders, while new technologies capable of significantly rewriting the existing mass-production system are still under validation. As the industry continues to seek growth, additives, electrolyte salts, surface treatments, and high-purity chemicals are beginning to gain more space. Jihocan has achieved independent listing status, Yongtai Technology has extended its cooperation with CATL to 2029, and Do-Fluoride is once again seeing profits driven up by new energy materials.
The lithium battery industry has provided these pre-existing chemical capabilities with larger orders, greater business significance, and has also served as a rigorous test of scaled manufacturing. They have grown strong within lithium batteries and are now extending from lithium batteries into the next wave of innovation.