【SMM analysis】Lithium Battery Recycling Sees March Surge, Slight April Growth Expected

SMM March 31 News:

For Lithium battery recycling,  the purchase volume of black mass by downstream hydrometallurgy recycling enterprises, which was 41,519, up 48% MoM, mainly because the post-Chinese New Year period was a peak purchasing season for recycling enterprises. Most enterprises had used their inventory in February and purchased actively after the holiday ended;

as for recycled salt production, March recycled lithium carbonate production was 11,000 mt LCE, up 44% MoM; March recycled nickel sulphate production was 5,480 mt Ni, up 17% MoM; March recycled cobalt sulphate production was 1,760 mt refined cobalt, up 56% MoM. The main reasons for the relatively large MoM increase were 1. recycled cobalt sulphate production itself was very low 2. producing cobalt sulphate from black mass had better economics than from MHP. Expectations for April were for slight increases across the board.