Geopolitical tensions drive up energy storage costs; institutions: the energy storage industry is expected to enter a peak season of both volume and price growth.

On March 26, the battery sector led the market. Battery ETF招商（561910） rose by 1.64% during the day, with Peking University rising 6.52%. Multiple stocks such as Dofluorid, Enjie Co., Shengtai Technology, Tianci Materials, and Fulinh Precision rose over 4%. Other stocks like Xinjubang, Xiamen Tungsten New Energy, and Btr Battery also followed suit.

Funding data shows that Battery ETF招商（561910） has seen a continuous net inflow of funds totaling 71,30,000 yuan over the last three trading days, indicating that capital is gradually entering the energy storage sector.

According to energy storage network data, the new operational installed capacity of China’s new energy storage reached 9.71GW/24.69GWh in the first two months of 2026, representing year-on-year growth of 136% and 122%, respectively; the total new operational installed capacity for 2025 is projected to be 64.6GW/196.5GWh, with year-on-year growth of 87% and 120%.

According to CITIC Futures, supportive domestic and foreign policies and demand are driving the energy storage market’s development, presenting an unexpected trend.

1. In the past three months, China’s market procurement has consistently exceeded expectations, demonstrating the robust potential of the domestic energy storage market under capacity price incentives;

2. Overseas market demand is experiencing high growth, and under the influence of geopolitical disturbances and AIDC, global energy storage total demand growth is expected to exceed 36% by 2026.

The agency predicts that global energy storage installations are expected to rise to 496GWh in 2026, with energy cell production also adjusted to 833GWh, corresponding to a lithium carbonate demand of 500,000 tons.

Century Securities also pointed out that under the backdrop of strong certainty in energy storage demand, the ongoing escalation of the geopolitical situation in the Strait of Hormuz will increase shipping risks, which will directly raise the ocean transportation costs for lithium mines, basic chemical products, and auxiliary materials; additionally, rising energy costs in the chemical production segment will be transmitted through the industry chain, ultimately reflected in the prices of upstream raw materials such as cathode materials and electrolytes.

Looking ahead, as a key means to adjust volatility and enhance consumption capacity, energy storage has broad demand potential; with the resumption of work and production in March, the energy storage industry chain’s production scheduling is expected to rebound, the industry will enter a peak season of rising volume and price, continuing to be optimistic about the energy storage industry and related investment targets.

Data shows that Battery ETF招商 (561910) tracks the CSI Battery Index, with “solid-state battery” concept stocks accounting for as much as 45%, and “energy storage concept” stocks accounting for nearly 60%! The index covers all listed companies in the battery theme’s entire industry chain, including upstream materials and resources, midstream battery manufacturing and components, downstream applications, and equipment recycling-related targets. The top ten constituent stocks include CATL, Sanghua Intelligent Control, Sungrow Power, EVE Energy, Tianci Materials, Xian Dao Intelligent, Greeenme, Yinlun Co., Guoxuan High-Tech, and Xinwangda.

According to Choice, the current price-to-earnings ratio (PE-TTM) of the CSI Battery Theme Index is approximately 33.57 times. Historical percentile points show that this valuation level is below 65.1% of the time in the past decade.

Risk warning: Funds have risks, and investment requires caution.