【SMM Analysis】Mixed Raw Material Trends with LFP Black Mass Up on Lithium Strength

SMM April 28  News:

Raw material side, lithium carbonate held up well this week due to supply disruptions from Zimbabwe's latest policy and mine license renewals in Jiangxi, nickel salt prices fluctuated, and the cobalt salt market saw lackluster performance with prices declining. This week, by material type across ternary, LCO, and LFP categories: LFP hydrometallurgy side, taking LFP pole piece black mass as an example, current LFP pole piece black mass prices were 7,250-7,600 yuan/mtu, up 325 yuan/mtu WoW from Thursday's transactions. As lithium carbonate futures and spot prices continued to rise this week, LFP black mass prices also kept rising. Moreover, as some LFP recycling enterprises increasingly linked their pricing to futures prices, the price lag weakened and market reactions became relatively more responsive.

Ternary and LCO side, ternary prices remained stable for now, as it was not a just-in-time procurement period, and although lithium chemical prices rose, nickel salt and cobalt salt prices showed mediocre performance. Pure cobalt and high-cobalt scrap coefficients began to edge down, mainly because: 1. Cobalt prices had been in the doldrums recently. Previously, pure cobalt enterprises raised market prices for pure cobalt and high-cobalt black mass due to high cobalt margins, but now that the market generally held a bearish outlook going forward, prices declined.2. Currently, refined cobalt prices and cobalt sulphate prices became inverted, making the economics of producing cobalt sulphate from refined cobalt through re-smelting better than from recycled materials. Top-tier enterprises stopped purchasing due to still-high inventory levels combined with economic viability concerns, causing market prices to decline. Meanwhile, previously scarce supplies gradually loosened as purchasing halted, and prices edged down further.