This week, the prices of 5-series, 6-series, and 8-series ternary cathode precursor products all saw a slight increase.

This week, the prices of 5-series ternary cathode material rose slightly, while the prices of 6-series and 8-series materials remained relatively stable.

[SMM Weekly Review] This week, influenced by policies in the DRC, cobalt sulphate prices stopped falling and rebounded. On the supply side, smelters and traders maintained their quotes near the previous highs. On the demand side, downstream ternary enterprises' orders have not shown significant improvement yet, and they have decided to wait and see, focusing on digesting previous inventory. Refined cobalt purchases remain suspended due to its poor economic viability. Overall, after the policy announcement, the current market sentiment for cobalt sulphate has improved significantly compared to last week. However, due to the rapid price increases by upstream suppliers and the uncertain future situation, downstream purchase willingness remains weak, and actual market transactions are limited. It is expected that cobalt sulphate prices will temporarily stabilize next week, awaiting feedback from actual market transactions.

[SMM Weekly Review] This week, cobalt intermediate product prices rose slightly. On the supply side, most mines and traders held a bullish sentiment and suspended quoting prices, while a few quoting enterprises maintained their refusal to budge on prices. On the demand side, smelters faced challenges such as losses in production costs and weak downstream demand. Given the uncertain future situation, they continued to delay procurement and mainly relied on consuming their own inventory. Some smelters with relatively low inventory levels attempted to inquire about prices in the market, but actual transactions remained difficult due to significant price differences between buyers and sellers. Overall, influenced by the DRC's extension policy, China's cobalt intermediate products will still face a shortage of raw materials in the future, and prices have upward momentum. However, during this process, attention needs to be paid to the suppression of downstream demand caused by the rise in raw material prices.

[SMM Weekly Review] This week, affected by the extended export ban policy in the DRC, both the futures prices and spot prices of refined cobalt on the Zhonglianjin market rose significantly. Supply side, most refined cobalt smelters maintained long-term contract supply, with limited spot order quotations. After several trading days of wait-and-see, traders gradually resumed quotations and refused to budge on prices. Demand side, inquiries from traders and end-users increased notably in the early week under the policy impact, with sporadic actual transactions heard. However, mid-week, as Zhonglianjin futures prices returned to fluctuations, market sentiment cooled, and some traders reported weakened inquiry intentions from end-users, with limited actual transactions. Overall, given the current high social inventory of refined cobalt in midstream and no significant improvement in downstream demand, even with the major positive news of the DRC's extension, most downstream producers maintained just-in-time procurement, resulting in subdued actual transactions. Refined cobalt prices are expected to return to a fluctuating pattern next week.

On June 5, the Indonesia Critical Minerals Conference & Expo 2025, hosted by SMM Information & Technology Co., Ltd. (SMM), supported by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a government supporter, and co-organized by the Indonesia Nickel Miners Association (APNI), Jakarta Futures Exchange, and Sxcoal, successfully concluded at the Pullman Jakarta Central Park Hotel in Indonesia.

From the analysis of overall data, rigid demand in the ESS sector remained stable in June. The auto sales boom driven by earlier auto shows gradually faded, and the penetration rate of NEVs in the market remained stable. Currently, consumer momentum in the end-use market is insufficient, and it is expected that the increase in end-use demand will be relatively limited. In terms of market transactions, the market remained sluggish in June, with some second-life battery producers largely refraining from building up inventory and maintaining a just-in-time procurement strategy.

Recycling: This week, following the announcement of import and export restrictions in the DRC, cobalt sulphate prices continued to rise, nickel sulphate prices remained basically stable, and lithium carbonate prices rebounded slightly, fluctuating in operation. This week, the coefficients for ternary and LCO black mass remained unchanged, with a slight increase in the cobalt coefficient and a continuous decline in the lithium coefficient. Currently, the prices per % lithium for LFP pole piece black mass range from 2,150 to 2,300 yuan/mtu, and for LFP battery black mass, they range from 1,950 to 2,100 yuan/mtu.

The 450,000 mt/year LFP precursor project is located in Bai'anying Village, Xicheng Subdistrict, Kaiyang County, Guiyang City. With a total investment of 4 billion yuan, the project will be constructed in phases. The project construction unit is Guizhou Anda New Energy Materials Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anda Technology (830809).