Recently, to promote the recycling of renewable resources and standardize the import management of regenerated black mass raw materials for lithium-ion batteries and regenerated steel raw materials, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the General Administration of Customs, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Commerce, and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued the "Announcement on Matters Related to Standardizing the Import Management of Regenerated Black Mass Raw Materials for Lithium-ion Batteries and Regenerated Steel Raw Materials," which will come into effect on August 1, 2025.

Recently, the Administrative Approval Bureau of Ganzhou City issued a public notice on administrative approval applications, announcing that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the 15,000 mt/year lithium carbonate project (re-application) of Jiangxi Xiangnan New Energy Co., Ltd. has been approved. It is reported that the project is located in the Xinhua Industrial Zone of Dayu Industrial Park, Jiangxi Province, with a total investment of 2.1 billion yuan, including 25 million yuan for environmental protection, accounting for 1.19% of the total investment. The main investments in this project include 90 million yuan for equipment, 50 million yuan for working capital, and 70 million yuan for other purposes (including environmental protection investment). The main product is 15,000 mt/year of battery-grade lithium carbonate, with a by-product of 73,483.25 mt/year of sodium sulfate decahydrate.

[SMM Analysis] This article introduces knowledge related to energy storage in a straightforward manner by addressing three questions: What is energy storage? Why do we need energy storage? How is energy storage implemented? At its core, energy storage is a technological system designed to address the temporal and spatial mismatches in electricity supply and demand, enabling the transfer of energy across time through forms such as chemical energy (e.g., batteries) and potential energy (e.g., pumped hydro storage). Its core architecture comprises four major modules: energy storage battery cells serve as the energy carriers, with the LFP route dominating the market; PCS converters facilitate AC-DC conversion; the BMS system monitors the safety of tens of thousands of battery cells in real time; and the EMS system optimizes charging and discharging strategies based on electricity price signals. The primary demand for energy storage covers the power generation and grid side, as well as the demand side. Current technological iterations focus on large-capacity battery cells, such as the 587Ah cell from CATL and the 684Ah cell used in combination by Sungrow.

Recently, the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance released the monthly data for power batteries in May 2025. The data shows that in May, China's power battery installations reached 57.1 GWh, up 5.5% MoM and 43.1% YoY. From January to May, China's cumulative power battery installations amounted to 241.4 GWh, up 50.4% YoY.

[SMM Cobalt and Lithium Morning Meeting Summary: On Monday, ternary prices continued their downward trend. In terms of raw material costs, cobalt sulphate and manganese sulphate prices dropped slightly, while nickel sulphate remained stable temporarily. Lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide continued to show a downward trend. On the NEV market side, June is traditionally the off-season for the NEV market, with mediocre performance in auto sales. However, some leading battery cell manufacturers have seen a significant increase in procurement demand for medium- and high-nickel ternary cathode materials. The main reasons are, firstly, to stockpile in advance for new car models that are about to be launched, and secondly, to send them to overseas battery cell manufacturers for product verification.