【SMM Analysis】This Week's Hydrometallurgy Recycling Market: Recycling Prices Remained Stable, and Stockpiling in the Market Basically Ended (January 26–29, 2026)

SMM January 29 News:

This week, nickel sulphate prices remained stable, while lithium carbonate prices fluctuated.

By material type, ternary and LFP: For LFP wet process, taking LFP pole piece black mass as an example, the current price range for LFP pole piece black mass was 6,950–7,300 yuan/mtu, up slightly WoW. In recent days, due to fluctuations in lithium carbonate prices, the overall price trend for LFP black mass was mainly volatile. As we entered the latter half of January, most downstream LFP wet process enterprises had completed stockpiling in previous weeks, resulting in very sluggish market activity with only minor restocking observed.

For ternary black mass, taking ternary pole piece black mass as an example: the current nickel and cobalt payables were 78–80.5%, flat WoW in discount terms, while lithium payables were also 78–80.5%. Currently, the payables for nickel, cobalt, and lithium are essentially at the same discount level. Although salt prices increased, black mass payables and black mass prices rose simultaneously, so profit margins did not improve significantly compared to the previous period.