Morning briefing: Battery black mass prices rangebound amid volatile lithium price
Lithium: The spodumene market quietened recently, and the price hike slowed. The buyers and sellers' bids and offers showed increasingly great difference, and there were hardly any transactions. The demand for lepidolite improved, and the prices rebounded slowly. It is expected that the lithium ore prices will stabilize in the near term. For lithium carbonate, the market transactions were lackluster after the market players stockpiled last week when the prices dropped slightly. The smelters were still firm to the prices, and the downstream players purchased on demand. It is expected that the lithium carbonate prices will keep rangebound.
Nickel: The spot MHP production in Indonesia rose rapidly, which is expected to shore up the supply in China in the future. Some integrated producers started to sell nickel sulfate, leading to rising supply. But the end-market was still slow in recovery, and producing nickel plate with nickel suflate was not profitable. The nickel sulfate prices are projected to fall with mounting oversupply.
Cobalt: The overseas cobalt prices dropped still, which weighed on the sentiment of the producers, in addition to weak downstream demand. As such, there heard no transactions of cobalt sulfate at present. Should the market remain silent, the cobalt sulfate prices are projected to fall further, especially when the cost support has been weakening.
Battery scrap: The prices of NMC and LCO black mass moved rangebound amid volatile lithium carbonate prices. The market transactions were poor, and the hydrometallurgical plants were cautious on the belief that the black mass prices would fall further.
Repurposing: The transactions on the repurposing market were mostly small orders as the buyers were still quite cautious. The traders of B grade battery cells held the prices firm, while the demand for batteries dismantled from equipment was resilient.
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