[SMM Battery Brief] Battery Industry Associations Issue Supplier Payment Initiative, MIIT Expresses Support

On 29 June, ARECOMS (the Authority for the Regulation and Control of Strategic Mineral Substances' Markets) announced that all cobalt export quotas allocated for the first half of 2026 that remain unused as of 30 June 2026 will be deemed forfeited and reclaimed. These unused volumes will be transferred to ARECOMS' strategic quota pool for reallocation by the regulator. This means that mining companies will no longer be allowed to retain unused export quotas, further strengthening the government's control over the pace of cobalt exports. It remains unclear how much of the overall 2026 export quota has yet to be utilized and which companies will be most significantly affected.

The South Korean government has begun work to establish a system that officially certifies the value of key minerals extracted from waste batteries, such as lithium and nickel, as recycled raw materials. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced on June 25 that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a pilot project on the battery recycled raw material production certification system at the President Hotel in Seoul, with six waste battery recycling companies and the Korea Environment Corporation participating. Through the pilot project, the government plans to verify the certification method in actual production processes before fully implementing the system in May next year. The battery recycled raw material production certification system is a scheme under which the government officially confirms that key battery materials, such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, produced by recycling waste batteries recovered from electric vehicles and other sources are recycled raw materials derived from waste resources. The certification will cover eight types of materials: lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, nickel sulfate, cobalt sulfate, manganese sulfate, graphite, mixed metal precipitate and cathode active materials.