Lithium: The demand for lithium ore was flat still as the production in Jiangxi Province did not show great improvement. The market players were mostly bearish on lithium prices based on the inventory and production scheduling of upstream and downstream players, hence were wait-and-see. It is likely that the lithium ore prices will move rangebound in the near term. For lithium carbonate, the futures prices rebounded slightly, but the market players were bearish as a whole. Some traders stopped making shipment and quotations. And the downstream demand was poor as well. It is likely that the lithium carbonate prices will be soft in the near term.
Nickel: The weakening downstream demand pulled back nickel sulfate prices, in addition to soft nickel prices. The market players then bearish on nickel prices. The downstream players mostly purchased on demand, and stood on the sidelines.
Cobalt: The quotations of cobalt sulfate were as low as Yuan 30,500/tonne, aggravating the market pessimism. The sellers changed their strategy due to inventory pressure, but the end-market demand was lackluster still. The transactions were relatively poor. The smelters were mostly wait-and-see towards the changes on the raw material side.
Battery scrap: The prices of retired lithium-ion batteries were soft yesterday, along with falling prices of nickel, cobalt, and lithium salts. The payables of NMC black mass dropped as well, the hydrometallurgical plants therefore stopped their procurement. And the current inquiries were mainly from the traders. The scrap market is likely to remain weak in the short period.
Repurposing: The transactions on the repurposing market were poor as the downstream demand was less than expected. Many market players withdrew from the market, but the impact was small as the base number was huge.
