Lithium Carbonate Futures: LC2401 Main Contract Falls by 1.05%

【EVE Energy's H1 Net Profit Surges 105.66%, Power and Energy Storage Battery Shipments Rise】 EVE Energy reported operating revenue of RMB 45.691 billion for the first half of 2026, up 62.20% year-on-year, while net profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 3.301 billion, up 105.66%. Non-GAAP net profit rose 111.89% to RMB 2.451 billion. During the period, power battery shipments reached 35.76 GWh, up 66.47% year-on-year, while energy storage battery shipments increased 54.88% to 44.46 GWh, supported by continued growth in large cylindrical power cells and large-capacity energy storage cells.

SMM, August 21: US-based critical minerals refiner Nth Cycle has been selected by the US Department of Energy to enter award negotiations for up to $100 million in funding to build a commercial-scale black mass refining facility, Project Shield, in the southeastern US one of the first of its kind domestically. The facility will refine up to 24,000 t/y of domestic black mass, the material recovered from shredded spent lithium-ion batteries, into high-purity nickel MHP and battery-grade lithium carbonate using Nth Cycle's proprietary OYSTER electroextraction system. The award addresses a structural gap in US recycling capacity: following the US Department of Commerce's recent one-year export ban on black mass, insufficient domestic refining has left China dominant in its processing. Nth Cycle already holds a ten-year offtake term sheet with Trafigura for 2,000 t of contained nickel and 1,500 t of lithium carbonate, adding to its existing Ohio operations. Project Shield is targeted for 2029, aided by a modular build model roughly 70% less capital-intensive than traditional refineries. SMM View: DOE backing for Nth Cycle reflects growing US urgency to build domestic lithium and nickel recycling capacity independent of Chinese midstream processing, with the black mass export ban tightening feedstock supply at home and locked-in offtake demand strengthening the case for battery recycling as a key pillar of western raw material security.