[SMM Weekly Review] The coefficients of ternary and LCO black mass in the disassembly recycling market rebounded slightly this week (July 7, 2025 - July 11, 2025)

SMM July 10 News:

Hydrometallurgy recycling situation this week:

This week, prices of cobalt sulphate, lithium carbonate, and other salt products continued to rise, while nickel sulphate prices fluctuated mainly. However, due to insufficient demand support in the short term, prices increased. This week, the coefficients for ternary and LCO black mass rose slightly. Currently, the lithium points for LFP pole piece black mass range from 2,150 to 2,300 yuan/mtu, and for LFP battery black mass, from 1,950 to 2,150 yuan/mtu. Taking ternary black mass as an example: at present, the nickel-cobalt coefficient for ternary pole piece black mass is 72-74%, and the lithium coefficient is 68-70%. For ternary battery black mass, the nickel-cobalt coefficient is 70-72%, and prices are basically flat WoW compared to last week. On the demand side of ternary hydrometallurgy recycling, most ternary hydrometallurgy recycling plants maintained basically stable procurement volumes this month, only consuming basic inventory. Due to the market's pessimistic attitude towards subsequent lithium chemical prices, they were cautious in purchasing black mass, and market transactions remained sluggish. On the demand side of LFP hydrometallurgy recycling, most LFP hydrometallurgy recycling plants were basically in a semi-shutdown state, only engaging in some toll processing and not conducting external purchases. On the supply side, the psychological selling prices of grinding mills and traders loosened somewhat with the continuous decline in salt prices, and black mass prices basically followed the continuous price reduction behavior of salt prices. Market transactions were sluggish. On the cost side, currently, except for leading integrated hydrometallurgy recycling plants, most hydrometallurgy recycling plants' profits were still below the surplus line, especially LFP hydrometallurgy recycling plants, which were greatly affected by the decline in lithium chemical prices. The profits of grinding mills were slightly better than those of hydrometallurgy recycling, but the profits of some small and medium-sized grinding mills also continued to be inverted.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lv Yanlin 021-20707875

Zhou Zhicheng 021-51666711