China's lithium-ion battery scrap prices remained weak on the whole. While NCM (nickel-cobalt-manganese) scrap saw some supply tightness on the market, suppliers showed limited willingness to sell.
Amid the continued downtrend in metal salt prices, the hydrometallurgical plants and traders had little purchasing interest, with most opting to wait and see the market trends. As a result, the weekly metal salt shipments and black mass procurement volumes declined significantly.
More importantly, in view of persistently poor lithium carbonate prices, the hydrometallurgical plants started to offer different payables for nickel/cobalt sulfate and lithium carbonate on bearish outlook on lithium price, which, however, were usually at the same level before. Correspondingly, the LFP (lithium iron phosphate) scrap prices fell during the week, with transactions mainly driven by rigid demand.
Source: Mysteel
Written by Aggie Hu, huchenying@mysteel.com
