Lithium: The lithium ore prices stabilized recently. The downstream lithium smelters forced down the prices actively after finishing building stocks ahead of the Labour Day holiday, and refused to accept high-priced lithium ore. It is expected that the lithium ore prices will remain little changed in the near term. For lithium carbonate, the market sentiment was boosted to some extent after the China government launched the trade-in policy for automobiles. But the market transactions were muted as most downstream players have finished pre-holiday stockpiling. The price difference of battery grade and industrial grade lithium carbonate was narrow in the face of short supply of industrial grade lithium carbonate. It is expected that the lithium carbonate prices will keep rangebound in the short period.
Nickel: The nickel sulfate prices gained momentum recently with the delayed port arrivals of MHP as well as some integrated producers refraining from selling nickel sulfate. The market inquiries were relatively active as the downstream precursor plants stockpiled for the Labor Day holiday. But the transaction prices were relatively low. It is expected that the nickel sulfate prices will stay flat in the near term.
Cobalt: The downstream demand remained poor as the power battery sector extended the weakness, and the existing bids were relatively low. Some cobalt sulfate was sold below Yuan 30,000/t. The smelters sold off in order to promote the sales, but the quotations were mostly above Yuan 31,000/t to control the losses. It is expected that the cobalt sulfate prices will be rangebound due to tug-of-war between the sellers and buyers.
Battery scrap: The battery black mass prices were stable yesterday. The hydrometallurgical plants refused the raise the bids in order to preserve the profits, and the transactions were muted. The stockpiling for the Labour Day holiday slowed compared with the last week. And the transactions were mostly with LFP black mass.
Repurposing: The transactions on the repurposing market were mostly with cylindrical battery cells yesterday, which were mostly used in electronics and electric tools. In addition, the demand for 314Ah battery cells was moderate recently.