[SMM Weekly Review] Structural Shifts Driven by Costs and Demand, Second-Life Application B-Grade Battery for Well-Known Mobile Phone Prices Rise Locally (2025.11.10-2025.10.13)

SMM November 13 News:

Second-life Battery Market This Week:

Combining this week's market performance, only ternary high C-rate small ampere-hour specifications saw continued price increases, while prices for other categories remained stable. Cost side, cobalt salt prices rose slightly this week, while lithium chemical prices increased significantly; supply side, driven by dual demand factors—the year-end installation rush in the ESS market and an increase in overseas orders—coupled with sustained growth in the EV sector's automotive market demand, overall battery cell demand rose, leading to a reduction in supply in the second-life battery market; demand side, upstream raw material prices remained high, downstream markets maintained just-in-time procurement over the long term, and previous cobalt salt price increases had gradually passed through to end-users. However, as the current price increase for new battery cells for well-known mobile phones did not meet enterprise expectations, multiple factors limited the price increase for B-grade battery cells, with only ternary B-grade high C-rate prices showing some upside room driven by demand.

Based on analysis of the current supply-demand pattern and cost pass-through characteristics, overall demand in the second-life battery market is relatively stable in the short term, with limited room for price increases and no significant fluctuations expected; although lithium chemical prices have risen recently, due to the lag in cost transmission, previous cobalt price increases have begun to pass through to the terminal second-life application segment. Ternary B-grade battery cell prices are expected to see a certain degree of increase, while overall second-life B-grade prices will remain relatively stable in the near future.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Cong Wang 021-51666838

Rui Ma 021-51595780

Disheng Feng 021-51666714

Yanlin Lü 021-20707875

Zhicheng Zhou 021-51666711

Yue Lei 021-20707873