Announcement on Suspension of some SMM LFP Battery Scrap Price Index Update

SMM has launched the price indexes of 12 items on April 3, 2023 to refine the classification of scrap prices in the Chinese LFP battery scrap recycling market and provide a real reflection of the relationship between lithium carbonate and LFP battery scrap prices. From April 31, 2023, the update of the following SMM LFP battery scrap prices will be stopped.

• Prismatic LFP battery scrap (1% <Li<2%)
• Prismatic LFP battery scrap discount factor (1% Li<2%)
• LFP battery pole piece (3%< Li< 4%)
• LFP battery pole piece discount factor (3% <Li<4%)
• LFP battery black mass (4% <Li<5%)
• LFP battery black mass discount factor (4% <Li<5%)

The new price indexes launched include:

Used Lithium Iron-phosphate Aluminum Shell Battery (USD/mt)

Used Lithium Iron-phosphate Steel Shell Battery (USD/mt)

Used Lithium Iron-phosphate Polymer Shell Battery (USD/mt)

Lithium Iron-phosphate Positive Electrode Tablet(power type) (USD/mt)

Lithium Iron-phosphate Positive Electrode Tablet (energy storage type) (USD/mt)

Lithium Iron-phosphate Positive Electrode Tablet Lithium Discount Factor (%)

Lithium Iron-phosphate Battery Black Mass (USD/mt)

Lithium Iron-phosphate Battery Black Mass Lithium Discount Factor (%)

Lithium Iron-phosphate Battery Black Mass Lithium Point (USD/lithium point)

Lithium Iron-phosphate Positive Electrode Tablet Black Mass (USD/mt)

Lithium Iron-phosphate Positive Electrode Tablet Black Mass Lithium Discount Factor (%)

Lithium Iron-phosphate Positive Electrode Tablet Black Mass Lithium Point (USD/lithium point)

Reasons for the suspension of the update：

SMM’s update of Prismatic LFP battery scrap discount factor (1% Li<2%) and Prismatic LFP battery scrap discount factor (1% Li<2%) was suspended as there are many forms of LFP batteries in the market, including prismatic, cylindrical and soft-pack batteries. Batteries in different shells have a certain impact on the prices. Therefore, SMM refines the types of batteries, and launched new price indexes such as Aluminium-shell LFP Battery Scrap, Steel-shell LFP Battery Scrap and Soft-pack LFP Battery Scrap. The SMM discount factor is cancelled since batteries are mostly traded at a fixed price.

LFP battery scrap pole piece (3% <Li<4%）and LFP battery scrap pole piece discount factor (3% <Li<4%): Considering that the lithium content of LFP battery scrap pole pieces varies greatly, SMM has decided to stop publishing the previous LFP battery scrap pole piece prices while at the same time adding new prices, namely LFP battery scrap pole piece (power battery) and LFP battery scrap pole piece (energy storage battery), so as to better distinguish different types of LFP battery scrap pole pieces.

LFP black mass (4% <Li<5%) and LFP black mass discount factor (4% <Li<5%): LFP black mass in the recycling market is generally divided into battery powder and pole piece powder. Due to the difference in lithium content, the prices of battery powder and pole piece powder also vary. LFP black mass in the market is mostly priced based on lithium content in percentage, while SMM’s previous discount factor is based on the price of SMM lithium metal, which has little practical reference. In order to better serve customers, SMM has decided to stop publishing the previous LFP black mass discount factor while at the same time adding new prices, including LFP pole piece powder, LFP battery powder, LFP pole piece powder lithium factor, LFP battery powder lithium factor, prices of 1% of lithium in LFP pole piece powder, and prices of 1% of lithium in LFP battery powder. The benchmark prices of lithium elements are based on the average prices of SMM lithium carbonate (99.2%, industrial-grade, domestic).

In order to ensure that customers can better adapt to the new prices, the historical prices and databases of the previous price categories will be retained, and the historical prices of the soon-to-be-halted price categories will be updated until April 30, 2023. We welcome more related companies in the new energy industry chain to participate in SMM’s price collections and support SMM to better serve companies across the industry chain.