Lithium: The lithium ore prices were little changed yesterday. Nevertheless, with falling imports in February as a result of poor lithium market ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, the domestic lithium ore supply was relatively tight. The traders raised the offers accordingly. It is expected that the lithium ore prices will remain rangebound. For lithium carbonate, the transactions were flat, and some traders stopped making quotations. The supply of industrial grade lithium carbonate tightened, with some purchasing on demand. It is projected that the lithium carbonate prices will keep rangebound.
Nickel: The nickel sulfate prices remained high recently, on persistently tight supply of spot MHP. Some manufacturers purchased nickel briquette to produce nickel sulfate, easing the supply tightness of MHP. But the downstream players refused to accept the high-priced lithium carbonate on flat end-market demand.
Cobalt: The electrolytic cobalt price edged up yesterday, with few transactions. The traders were unwilling to lower the offers on tight supply of certain brands. The electrolytic prices are projected to remain rangebound in the near term. For cobalt sulfate, the prices were flat, and the smelters held the prices firm though the downstream players were not optimistic about the demand. It is expected that the cobalt sulfate prices will linger around the current level for slowly improving downstream demand but rising supply of imported raw materials.
Battery scrap: The battery black mass market showed downtrend yesterday. The mainstream hydrometallurgical plants' bids for NMC black mass were mostly 76-77%, or 74-75% for lower grade black mass. But there were still few transactions heard as the bids were below the acceptable prices of traders.
Repurposing: The transactions on the repurposing market were poor yesterday. Persistently poor B grade battery cell prices forced the traders to sell off in exchange for cash flow.