SMM: Analysis and Outlook on the Impact of Global Nickel, Cobalt, and Lithium Price Changes on the Battery Recycling Landscape [Asian Battery Materials Forum]
At the 2026 Asian Battery Materials Cooperation Forum (South Korea) - Battery Raw Materials Value Chain Forum hosted by SMM, Lin Ziya, Senior Analyst of Lithium Battery Recycling at SMM, shared insights on "The Impact of Global Nickel, Cobalt, and Lithium Price Changes on the Battery Recycling Landscape." She noted that SMM expects the share of disassembly recycling in the global nickel, cobalt, and lithium raw material supply system to continue rising. On the lithium supply side, the recycling share is climbing steadily; by 2030, the supply share of spodumene ore is expected to pull back to 51%, brine and lepidolite ore shares will see minor changes, and the disassembly recycling share will rise to 15%, with recycled lithium's supply weighting continuing to expand. In terms of nickel supply, the recycling supply scale is steadily expanding. By 2030, nickel intermediate products will account for 60%, becoming the primary supply source; nickel matte and NPI supply shares will contract somewhat, while the recycling share will edge up to 19%, playing a stable supplementary role in supply. In the cobalt supply sector, the recycling share shows the most prominent growth. By 2030, the supply share of copper-cobalt ore will decline to 45%, nickel-cobalt ore will rise to 29%, and the recycling share will climb sharply to 23%. Among nickel, cobalt, and lithium, cobalt's recycling supply growth ranks first.