[SMM Weekly Review] Pre-Holiday Supply-Demand Hedging Keeps Second-Life Application Market Prices Stable (1.19-1.22, 2026)

Published: Jan 22, 2026 17:43

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This week, the second-life battery cell market overall showed stable prices. Cost side, a clear divergence was observed: lithium carbonate prices continued to rise this week, providing some cost support for the second-life battery industry chain, while nickel sulphate prices experienced a slight decline, exerting a minor drag on costs. Cobalt sulphate prices remained stable throughout, with no significant fluctuations. Supply side, mainstream battery cell manufacturers finalized plans for normal production without shutdowns during the Chinese New Year holiday. To avoid inventory management pressure during the holiday period, some enterprises have begun clearing lithium inventory, leading to a short-term increase in market supply. Demand side, affected by the seasonal approach of the Chinese New Year holiday, the procurement pace of downstream enterprises related to second-life applications gradually slowed down, and procurement volume saw a phased pullback, resulting in an overall mild downward trend in demand. The market is currently in a typical price negotiation phase. The upward cost-driven support for price increases is being offset by the downward pressure from weakening demand. Most market participants maintain a cautious wait-and-see attitude. The mutual balancing of bullish and bearish forces ultimately kept prices in the second-life application market stable this week, with no significant fluctuations.

SMM January 22:

Second-Life Application Market This Week:

This week, the second-life battery cell market overall showed stable prices. Cost side, a clear divergence was observed: lithium carbonate prices continued to rise, providing some cost support for the second-life battery industry chain; nickel sulphate prices saw a slight pullback, exerting a minor drag on the cost side; while cobalt sulphate prices remained stable throughout, without significant fluctuations. Supply side, mainstream battery cell manufacturers finalized plans for normal production without shutdowns during the Chinese New Year holiday. To avoid inventory management pressure during the holiday period, some enterprises have begun clearing lithium inventory, leading to a short-term increase in market supply. Demand side, affected by the seasonal approach of the Chinese New Year holiday, the procurement pace of downstream second-life application related enterprises gradually slowed down, procurement volume experienced a phased pullback, and overall demand showed a mild downward trend. The market is currently in a typical price negotiation phase. The upward cost side provides support for price increases, while the weakening demand side creates downward pressure, effectively offsetting each other. Most market participants maintain a cautious wait-and-see attitude. The mutual checks of bullish and bearish forces ultimately kept second-life application market prices stable this week, without significant fluctuations.

It is expected that for the remaining time before the holiday, the market will maintain this stagnant state. Subsequent price trends will depend more on price movements of key raw materials like lithium carbonate, as well as the final pre-holiday stockpiling pace and actual demand release from downstream enterprises.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Cong Wang 021-51666838

Rui Ma 021-51595780

Disheng Feng 021-51666714

Yanlin Lv 021-20707875

Yue Lei 021-20707873

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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