Latest Update in the SMM Lithium Market

News on January 16: Northern ports: South African high-iron ore at 30.5-32.6 yuan/mtu, up 1.61% WoW; South African semi-carbonate ore at 36.5-37 yuan/mtu, up 2.80% WoW; Gabonese ore at 43-43.6 yuan/mtu, flat WoW; 46% Australian lumps at 43.9-44.4 yuan/mtu, flat WoW; South African medium-iron ore at 38.1-38.6 yuan/mtu, flat WoW. Southern ports: South African high-iron ore at 32.2-32.9 yuan/mtu, up 1.56% WoW; South African semi-carbonate ore at 35-35.7 yuan/mtu, down 0.84% WoW; Gabonese ore at 41.5-42 yuan/mtu, flat WoW; 46% Australian lumps at 41.5-42.2 yuan/mtu, flat WoW; South African medium-iron ore at 38.9-39.4 yuan/mtu, flat WoW. Manganese ore market prices continued their firm trend, with spot transaction prices remaining high.

Against the backdrop of accelerating global energy transition and reshaping supply chain dynamics, Africa, with its abundant critical resources such as lithium, cobalt, graphite, and phosphate ore, is rapidly emerging as an indispensable strategic hub in the global battery value chain.

This week (January 9-15, 2026), the solid-state battery industry entered a phase of comprehensive acceleration driven by national strategic initiatives. The MIIT explicitly listed "all-solid-state battery technology breakthrough" as a key task, providing top-level guidance for the industry. Critical links in the industry chain made simultaneous progress: the sulphide route achieved substantial advancements in materials, pilot production, and equipment orders; meanwhile, cutting-edge applications, represented by the low-altitude economy, led in commercialization.

This week, second-life battery cell prices remained generally stable. Cost side, lithium carbonate prices showed some fluctuations but overall trended upward, providing some support for battery cell costs; cobalt salt prices also continued to rise, further increasing pressure on the upstream cost side. Supply side, battery cell manufacturers have not made significant adjustments to the current tax rebate policy, maintaining stable production and shipment pace; however, some second-life enterprises hold an optimistic outlook on future prices, believing that cost increases will gradually be passed on to end-users, leading to a tendency to raise shipment quotations. Nevertheless, downstream enterprises exhibited cautious purchase willingness, with limited acceptance of price hikes, preferring instead to observe market developments. This has resulted in a clear pricing standoff between upstream and downstream players. Against this backdrop, actual transaction prices have not shown significant changes, maintaining an overall pattern of sideways movement.

This week, cobalt sulphate and nickel sulphate prices continued to rise, while lithium carbonate prices fluctuated.