(Yicai Global) March 18 -- Tesla said it will raise the prices of its China-made electric vehicles for the third time in 10 days amid surging raw material prices.

The US carmaker increased the price of its Model Y by 5 percent to CNY316,900 (USD49,850), it said in a statement yesterday.

Tesla marked up some of its China-made EVs by as much as 5 percent on March 15, just five days after it raised them by CNY10,000 (USD1,570) because of skyrocketing costs for battery materials.

Chinese auto giant and battery maker BYD also announced on March 16 that it was also hiking its EV prices by between CNY3,000 and CNY6,000 (USD470 and USD945) for the second time in less than two months, due to rising raw material costs.

Commodity prices have soared amid supply chain disruptions in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, pushing up the cost of metals used in autos, including aluminum and nickel.

Tesla has not yet responded to Yicai Global, but founder Elon Musk said on Twitter on March 13 that the California-based firm is experiencing “significant recent inflation pressure in raw materials & logistics.”

China is an increasingly important market for Tesla, where the company built its first assembly plant outside of the United States. China accounted for 26 percent of Tesla’s revenue last year, up from 12 percent the year before.

Editor: Futura Costaglione