Lithium: The lithium ore market transactions were poor as the bids and offers from the buyers and sellers respectively showed great difference amidst volatile lithium prices. Some ore traders processed the lithium ore into lithium carbonate via tollers to preserve their profitability. It is expected that the lithium ore prices will be little changed in the near term. For lithium carbonate, the spot prices stabilized yesterday. The market inquiries were active, but the transactions were subsided. The market players were generally bearish. The price difference between battery grade and industrial grade lithium carbonate narrowed further. It is projected that the lithium carbonate prices will move rangebound in a narrow range in the near term.
Nickel: The MHP supply in Indonesia rose rapidly, leading to rising nickel sulfate supply in China in the future. Meanwhile, some integrated producers sold nickel sulfate, further booming the nickel sulfate supply. While the end-market demand recovered slowly, the downstream inquiries were relatively active ahead of the Labor Day holiday, supporting the nickel prices. It is likely that the nickel sulfate prices will remain flat at present, and then begin to fall when the supply starts to pick up.
Cobalt: The bids for cobalt sulfate dropped to around Yuan 30,000/tonne yesterday amid constantly falling overseas cobalt prices and lackluster downstream demand. The top-tier smelters insisted on Yuan 31,500/tonne, and the transactions were muted. The market players were generally bearish on falling raw material prices.
Battery scrap: The traders held the prices firm recently though the current black mass quotations would bring losses to the hydrometallurgical plants. The plants found it increasingly hard to find proper sources from the traders, apart from the production waste. Generally, the scrap market was quiet yesterday.
Repurposing: The transactions on the repurposing market was poor yesterday, with a few transactions with NMC battery cells. The demand for B grade battery cells were quite poor, especially when the end-market demand was lackluster.