[SMM Weekly Review] Costs Diverged and Demand Weakened, Second-Life Application Grade B Prices Remained Stable This Week, 2026.02.2-2026.02.5

Published: Feb 5, 2026 16:02

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This week, in the context of the second-life application market, second-life B-grade product prices remained generally stable overall, with no wild swings observed. Cost side, lithium carbonate prices showed a relatively clear downward trend, nickel sulphate prices also edged down slightly, while cobalt sulphate prices remained steady. Supply side, affected by the approaching Chinese New Year holiday, many enterprises have entered the pre-holiday winding-down phase, resulting in an overall weak willingness to sell. Demand side, year-end stockpiling by downstream enterprises has largely been completed, and overall purchasing enthusiasm is currently low, with the pace of restocking slowing down significantly. Among these, the small power sector saw a noticeable contraction in demand due to relevant policy adjustments, while only the ESS sector maintained relatively stable demand, becoming the main support on the demand side. Considering multiple factors such as divergent trends in cost-side products, cautious selling by enterprises on the supply side, and structural adjustments on the demand side, although the overall market trading atmosphere remained subdued and there was a certain time lag in the transmission of raw material price changes to end-users, second-life B-grade product prices continued to maintain a relatively stable pattern this week.

SMM January 22 News:

Second-Life Application This Week's Situation:

This week, considering the market conditions for second-life applications, prices for second-life Grade B products overall remained stable, without wild swings. Cost side, lithium carbonate prices showed a relatively clear downward trend, nickel sulphate prices also slightly decreased, while cobalt sulphate prices remained stable. Supply side, affected by the approaching Chinese New Year holiday, many enterprises have entered the pre-holiday winding-down phase, with an overall weak willingness to sell. Demand side, year-end stockpiling by downstream enterprises was basically completed, and overall purchasing enthusiasm is currently not high, with the restocking pace significantly slowing down. Within this, the small power sector saw a noticeable contraction in demand due to related policy adjustments, while only the ESS sector maintained relatively robust demand, becoming the main support on the demand side. Considering multiple factors including divergent trends in cost-side varieties, cautious selling by enterprises on the supply side, and structural adjustments on the demand side, although the overall market trading atmosphere is currently weak, coupled with a certain time lag in the transmission of raw material price changes to the end-user, prices for second-life Grade B products overall continued a relatively stable operating pattern this week.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lyu Yanlin 021-20707875

Lei Yue 021-20707873

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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