SMM February 6 News: In January, China's lithium battery scrap procurement and recycling volume dropped slightly. Downstream demand became mediocre as the Chinese New Year approached, and large-scale stockpiling by most wet-process plants was mainly concentrated at the end of December. The total recycling volume for the month (converted to black mass) reached 22,576 mt, marking a decline after December, down approximately 13% MoM. Among them, the recycling volumes of ternary and LFP scrap were 8,406 mt and 13,607 mt, respectively.
In January, supply side: Prices of nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate remained stable, while lithium carbonate prices continued to decline slightly. With salt prices largely stable and most wet-process enterprises having completed basic stockpiling before the year-end, coupled with funding considerations, the acceptance of high-priced scrap was expected to be low. Demand side: Most wet-process enterprises had completed pre-holiday stockpiling by the end of December. Approaching year-end, most companies preferred to maintain low operational flow rates and showed weak acceptance of high-priced black mass. This month, buyers and sellers remained in a price stalemate, and transaction activity was sluggish. As January entered the countdown to the Chinese New Year, freight costs rose, and most companies showed low willingness to ship or purchase. Therefore, in mid-to-late January, black mass prices mainly fluctuated along with nickel, cobalt, and lithium salt prices, with a general downward trend.
In February, as some small and medium-sized recycling enterprises are expected to resume operations after the Lantern Festival, the total wet-process procurement volume is projected to drop approximately 8% MoM.
SMM New Energy Research Team
Cong Wang 021-51666838
Rui Ma 021-51595780
Disheng Feng 021-51666714
Ying Xu 021-51666707
Yanlin Lü 021-20707875
Yujun Liu 021-20707895
Xiaodan Yu 021-20707870
Xianjue Sun 021-51666757
Zhicheng Zhou 021-51666711
He Zhang 021-20707850
