Lithium Carbonate Pullback Dragged Down Cost Side, Second-Life Application Market Saw Slight Price Increases with Category Divergence [SMM Weekly Review]

Published: Jun 4, 2026 16:18

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This week, China's second-life battery cell market edged up overall. Upstream lithium carbonate dropped sharply, while nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate declined in tandem. However, the high production costs accumulated in the earlier period had not yet been fully absorbed, and costs were gradually transmitted downstream to second-life products. Constrained by end-use demand, the extent of cost pass-through remained limited. Trends diverged across sub-categories: ternary second-life battery cells only edged up slightly, with weak downstream power demand and limited room for further price increases; LFP cells showed relatively promising upside potential, as Grade A LFP cells, being core raw materials for energy storage second-life applications, maintained solid rigid-demand fundamentals; Grade B cells leveraged price advantages to penetrate low and mid-end and specialized application scenarios; disassembled battery cells, subject to safety concerns and related policy restrictions, had low market acceptance, with quotes remaining stable. This round of price increases was primarily driven by lagging cost pass-through from the earlier period. Combined with the current rapid decline in lithium prices, all categories faced significant resistance to further price increases.

SMM June 4 News:

Second-life application market update this week:

The domestic second-life battery cell market edged up overall this week. Upstream lithium carbonate plunged sharply, while nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate declined in tandem. However, the high production costs accumulated in the earlier period had not yet been fully absorbed, and cost pass-through to second-life products was gradual. Constrained by end-use demand, the extent of cost transmission remained limited. Trends diverged across sub-categories: ternary second-life battery cells only edged up slightly, as downstream power demand remained weak and room for further price increases was narrow. LFP showed relatively promising upside potential — Grade A LFP, as a core raw material for energy storage second-life applications, maintained solid rigid-demand fundamentals. Grade B LFP leveraged its price advantage to penetrate low and mid-end and specialized application scenarios. Disassembled battery cells, subject to safety concerns and related policy restrictions, had low market acceptance, with quotes remaining stable. This round of price increases was primarily driven by lagging cost pass-through from the earlier period. Combined with the current rapid decline in lithium prices, further price increases across all categories faced significant resistance.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lv Yanlin 021-20707875

Lei Yue 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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