[SMM Weekly Review] Recycled Hydrometallurgical Recycling Market This Week: Raw Material Prices Continued to Decline, Trading in the Recycling Market Was Sluggish

Published: Oct 15, 2026 15:16 (GMT+8)

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Raw material side this week, lithium carbonate futures prices accelerated downward to around 100,000 yuan/mt, quoted at 101,800-107,000 yuan/mt on October 15. Nickel sulphate maintained a grind-lower trend, while cobalt sulphate prices continued to decline under weak demand. For ternary, LCO, and LFP material types, on the LFP hydrometallurgy side, taking LFP electrode black mass as an example, prices were quoted at 4,800-5,300 yuan per % lithium as of October 15, down sharply by 975 yuan per % lithium from the first day after the holiday. Affected by the continued decline in lithium carbonate after the holiday, downstream acceptance of current prices per % lithium weakened further, and cargo holders increased concessions to sell. At this stage, LFP battery black mass was quoted at 4,150-4,400 yuan per % lithium, with the price spread against electrode black mass still holding at a high level of around 800 yuan per % lithium. On the ternary and LCO side, ternary electrode black mass payables were around 71%-73%, down about 1.2 percentage points cumulatively from the first day after the holiday. Some high-nickel ternary electrode black mass, such as 8-series and 9-series material, saw transaction payables fall to around 72%-75%. Affected by cobalt and lithium material prices, LCO electrode black mass cobalt-lithium payables fell to 67%-70%, while LCO battery black mass cobalt-lithium payables were 66%-69%. At this stage, cobalt sulphate prices fell by more than 4,000 yuan/mt from the first day after the holiday. Downstream LCO hydrometallurgy enterprises remained cautious in purchasing, market transactions were sluggish, and LCO-side prices continued to stay below the ternary side.

SMM, October 15:

This week in the hydrometallurgical recycling market for the recycling sector:

On the raw material side this week, lithium carbonate futures prices accelerated their decline to around 100,000 yuan/mt, with October 15 quotes at 101,800-107,000 yuan/mt; nickel sulphate continued to grind lower, while cobalt sulphate prices extended their decline under pressure from weak demand. Looking at ternary, LCO, and LFP material types, on the LFP hydrometallurgy side, taking LFP electrode black mass as an example, as of October 15, quotes were 4,800-5,300 yuan per % lithium, a sharp drop of 975 yuan per % lithium from the first day after the holiday. Affected by the continued decline in lithium carbonate after the holiday, downstream acceptance of current prices per % lithium fell further, and cargo holders increased discounts to sell; at this stage, LFP battery black mass was quoted at 4,150-4,400 yuan per % lithium, with the price spread against electrode black mass still holding at a high level of around 800 yuan per % lithium. On the ternary and LCO side, ternary electrode black mass payables were around 71%-73%, down about 1.2 percentage points cumulatively from the first day after the holiday, with some high-nickel ternary electrode black mass such as 8-series and 9-series seeing transaction payables fall to around 72%-75%; affected by cobalt and lithium material prices, LCO electrode black mass cobalt and lithium payables fell to 67%-70%, and LCO battery black mass cobalt and lithium payables were 66%-69%; at this stage, cobalt sulphate prices fell by more than 4,000 yuan/mt from the first day after the holiday, downstream LCO hydrometallurgy enterprises remained cautious in purchasing, market transactions were sluggish, and LCO-side prices continued to stay below the ternary side.

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

Zhang He 021-51666853

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