Latest Update in the SMM Battery Recycling Market

On June 10, 2025, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) of the People's Republic of China officially announced the "Regulations on the Import of Recycled Black Mass Raw Materials for Lithium-ion Batteries and Recycled Steel." This document assigns the customs Harmonized System (HS) code 3824999996 to recycled black mass raw materials for lithium-ion batteries. The regulations will take effect on August 1, 2025.

[SMM Commentary on SHFE Tin Futures: On the Eve of the US Fed's June Interest Rate Meeting, the Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract Continues to Fluctuate] In the spot market, the resumption of tin ore production in Myanmar has been slow. Although some miners have applied to resume production, strict approval processes, coupled with transportation restrictions during the rainy season, have kept actual imports at a low level. Meanwhile, Thailand's policy of banning Myanmar from using its territory to transport tin ore has exacerbated the tight supply, with an estimated impact of 500-1,000 mt (metal content) on domestic monthly supply.

[SMM Tin Midday Review: The tin market exhibits a pattern of "strong supply support but weak demand reality," with both SHFE tin and LME tin lacking the momentum for a unilateral breakthrough.] At midday today, the most-traded SHFE tin contract (SN2507) maintained a doldrums pattern, opening at 263,340 yuan/mt, slightly pulling back from the settlement price of the previous trading day. The intraday fluctuation range narrowed to 262,000-264,000 yuan/mt. Trading in the spot market was sluggish, with downstream procurement mainly driven by immediate needs and a strong wait-and-see sentiment. Regarding LME tin, overnight LME tin closed at $32,500/mt, up 0.78%, with technical pressure near the MA60 daily average, intensifying the tug-of-war between longs and shorts in the short term.

At the 2025 SMM (2nd) Global Renewable Metal Industry Chain Forum - Secondary Copper and Aluminum Forum, hosted by SMM Information & Technology Co., Ltd., Zhang Xiaoyao, the project leader of SMM Recycling, shared insights on the topic of "Driving Business Opportunities and Reducing Operating Costs: SMM Serving the Global Secondary Copper and Aluminum Metals Market."

After the Indonesia Critical Minerals Conference & Expo 2025​​​​​​​, Wu Chenyu, SMM's Nickel Industry Marketing Director, and Enzo, a nickel industry analyst, led a team of international visitors to visit the Indonesia Branch of Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology Co., Ltd.

Recently, to promote the recycling of renewable resources and standardize the import management of regenerated black mass raw materials for lithium-ion batteries and regenerated steel raw materials, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the General Administration of Customs, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Commerce, and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued the "Announcement on Matters Related to Standardizing the Import Management of Regenerated Black Mass Raw Materials for Lithium-ion Batteries and Regenerated Steel Raw Materials," which will come into effect on August 1, 2025.