[SMM Weekly Review] This week in new energy hydrometallurgical disassembly recycling: lower raw material prices dragged down the overall recycled materials market

SMM, October 22:

This week in the hydrometallurgical recycling market for the recycling segment:

Raw material side: At the start of this week, lithium carbonate prices held around 100,000 yuan/mt. On Wednesday, futures prices fell sharply, and as of October 22, quotes were down about 3,000 yuan from the start of the week. Nickel sulphate prices weakened slightly during the week before stabilising, with the decline slowing; cobalt sulphate, pressured by sluggish demand, fell quickly at the start of the week and then gradually stabilised.

By material type, for LFP hydrometallurgical recycling: Taking LFP electrode black mass as an example, battery black mass prices moved lower overall, while electrode black mass prices fluctuated noticeably due to expectations of falling lithium carbonate and the impact of the LFP repair market. The high premium sentiment for LFP electrode repair material gradually returned to rationality, and downstream acceptance of current prices per % lithium declined further. However, because front-end milling is supported by costs, the sentiment to hold back from selling is evident, and the market tug-of-war is relatively strong. At the same time, as LFP electrode repair prices gradually converged toward market prices, the price spread between repair material and battery black mass narrowed further, and the spread between LFP electrode black mass and battery black mass has returned to a historically reasonable range. For ternary and LCO recycling: Ternary electrode black mass payables continued to grind lower as nickel, cobalt, and lithium chemical prices weakened in turn. Affected by the recent decline in cobalt prices and persistently low downstream demand, cobalt payables in some downstream quotes began to show a trend of falling independently. Cobalt and lithium payables for LCO black mass were similarly dragged down by weaker cobalt and lithium material prices and sluggish cobalt demand, and downstream purchase quotes fell further and more rapidly. However, supported by earlier procurement costs, some holders were unwilling to sell at low prices, resulting in a large price spread between upstream and downstream quote payables. Market transactions were sluggish, and demand for LCO black mass was significantly lower than for LFP and ternary.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lyu Yanlin 021-20707875

Lei Yue 021-20707873

Zhang He 021-51666853