【SMM analysis】Weekly Hydrometallurgical Recovery Market Update

This week, cobalt sulfate prices continued to rise, nickel sulfate prices remained largely stable, while prices for salt products like lithium carbonate oscillated. Nickel and cobalt recovery rates for materials such as ternary and lithium cobalt oxide black mass remained generally flat, while the lithium recovery rate saw a slight decline following the earlier drop in lithium carbonate prices. Lithium point prices for LFP black mass were essentially unchanged. Taking ternary black mass as an example: the current nickel-cobalt recovery rate for ternary cathode black mass is 72.5-75%, with the lithium recovery rate at 70-72%. The nickel-cobalt recovery rate for ternary battery black mass is 70-72.5%. On the demand side, most LFP hydrometallurgical plants continue tolling operations; moreover, with lithium carbonate prices fluctuating, the spot cost of producing lithium carbonate from LFP black mass has once again moved into a loss-making territory, leading to a slight decrease in market transaction activity. For ternary hydrometallurgical demand, most plants maintain normal purchasing. On the supply side, the target selling prices of powder processors and traders remained largely stable alongside the oscillation of salt prices, resulting in subdued market transactions; however, overall ternary transaction activity was slightly better than the LFP hydrometallurgical segment due to the continued slight increase in cobalt salt prices. On the cost front, with the recent rebound in salt prices, profits for extracting salts from externally sourced lithium cobalt oxide black mass have now returned above the breakeven line for leading integrated hydrometallurgical plants, but profits for both ternary and LFP hydrometallurgical processes remain below the breakeven line. Powder processing profits are slightly better than hydrometallurgical profits, although profits for some small and medium-sized powder processors also remain inverted.