Amid sustained demand growth, India plans to build a strategic reserve of critical minerals including lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and rare earths. The stockpile will be sized to cover six months of domestic consumption, aiming to guard against risks of global supply disruptions and sharp raw material price volatility. Led by India’s Ministry of Mines and Ministry of Heavy Industries, the reserve covers key raw materials essential for new energy vehicles, energy storage and the electronics sector, fields where India currently relies heavily on imports. At present, the United States, China, South Korea and other countries have already established strategic reserve systems for critical minerals.

In mid-April, CATL announced plans to invest 30 billion yuan to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary, Times Resources Group, registered in Xiamen and positioned as a professional investment, operation, and management platform in the new energy minerals sector. This major move is not only a key step for CATL in building a closed-loop entire industry chain of "ore — materials — battery — recycling," but will also inject strong momentum into the extraction and reuse of rare and precious metal resources, driving the battery recycling industry from standardized development toward a new phase of technological breakthroughs and scale expansion. The core mission of Times Resources Group is to integrate global critical minerals resources such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt, while expanding into high-quality rare and precious metal mining projects. From an industry perspective, lithium, nickel, and cobalt are core raw materials for power batteries, while rare and precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum group metals are indispensable in electronic devices and catalysts. Through this 30 billion yuan capital deployment, CATL can both ensure that its primary lithium resources self-supply rate rises above 35% and keep lithium chemicals costs below 50,000 yuan/mt, while also establishing stable raw material connection channels for rare and precious metal regeneration after battery recycling through full industry chain control of mineral resources. More notably, CATL hired Chen Jinghe, founder of Zijin Mining, as a mining consultant, leveraging his extensive experience in mineral exploration and extraction to further optimize resource development processes. This means the upstream extraction segment will place greater emphasis on green and efficient technology applications, such as adopting efficient leaching technology for low-grade ore and comprehensive recovery processes for rare and precious metal associated ore, improving resource utilization rate from the source, laying the raw material foundation for rare and precious metal regeneration in subsequent battery recycling, and achieving synergy between "primary extraction + secondary recycling."

Spot lithium carbonate prices fluctuated upward this week, with the price center further rising. The futures market performed strongly, with the most-traded LC2609 contract price range rising from 173,400-184,800 yuan/mt at the beginning of the week to 182,500-189,500 yuan/mt, up about 5% WoW, with open interest increasing significantly and bulls actively entering the market. Market transactions remained sluggish, with the psychological price level gap between upstream and downstream further widening. On the upstream lithium chemical plant side, quotes stayed high, willingness to sell spot orders was low, and the sentiment to hold prices firm was evident. On the downstream material plants side, purchases were mainly just-in-time procurement, with limited acceptance of high prices, and psychological purchase price levels concentrated around 170,000-175,000 yuan/mt, with only a few enterprises with rigid restocking needs willing to accept prices around 180,000 yuan/mt. Overall, market inquiries and transactions were relatively sluggish, presenting a stalemate pattern of "upstream holding prices firm and holding back from selling, downstream waiting and watching." Supply side, bullish and bearish factors were intertwined, with short-term disruptions coexisting with medium-term expectations. Bullish factors: continued disruptions from Jiangxi mine license renewals; Middle East geopolitical fluctuations pushing up diesel import costs, with some Australian mines' Q1 quarterly reports confirming cost increases; political instability in Mali raising market concerns over West African ore supply; spodumene concentrates prices continuing to strengthen, reinforcing the cost-support logic for non-integrated lithium chemical plants. Bearish factors: Zimbabwe Huayou announced successful shipment of lithium sulfate, potentially easing some short-term supply anxiety; April domestic lithium carbonate production pace remained generally stable, with salt lake operations maintaining steady production ramp-up; entering May, although Zimbabwe lithium concentrates exports remained restricted, relevant enterprises' raw material inventory could still ensure normal production for the month, with total May production expected to edge up about 3% MoM. Demand side expectations were positive, but actual boost effects still needed verification. Looking ahead, spot lithium carbonate prices are expected to maintain a relatively strong pattern in the short term. Supply side, the actual execution progress of Zimbabwe export quotas and the timing of Jiangxi mine license renewal shutdowns remain key variables; demand side, focus should be on May new energy auto sales data realization and the pace of LFP plant capacity expansion boosting raw material demand. Against the backdrop of unresolved supply-side constraints, cost support, and demand expectations resonating, lithium carbonate prices are expected to maintain a relatively strong trend in Q2.

[SMM Lithium Battery Anode Raw Material Market Weekly Review: Strong Cost Support from Anode Raw Material Coke, Prices Stabilize at Highs] April 30: This week, China's anode raw material coke market showed divergent trends. Some low-sulphur petroleum coke producers' prices edged up, while oil-based green needle coke prices remained stable.

China's manganese market has completely moved away from the pattern of rising and falling in unison, with severe divergence across product categories: EMM and Mn3O4 pulled back on weakness, battery-grade manganese sulphate remained resilient and firm with tight spot supply, EMD traded sideways steadily, LMO struggled to catch up passively, and the industry has officially entered a structural market with clear differentiation between strong and weak segments, with distinct investment and stockpiling opportunities hidden beneath the divergence.

This week, the second-life battery cell market maintained overall price stability. Cost side, lithium carbonate prices fluctuated upward this week, nickel sulphate prices climbed steadily, while cobalt sulphate prices continued their weak downward trend. Overall, raw material futures showed divergent trends, but the strengthening of lithium and nickel categories would push up battery cell recycling and processing production costs. However, there was a certain time lag in the top-down transmission of raw material price changes to the battery cell market, forming strong bottom support for the market. Supply side, at the current stage, the overall supply volume of second-life and Grade A/B battery for well-known mobile phone cell markets remained stable, battery cell enterprises maintained orderly shipments pace, market circulating sources showed no significant incremental changes, and the supply side overall maintained a loose and balanced pattern without causing notable disruption to prices. Demand side, as the Labour Day holiday approached, some downstream enterprises initiated pre-holiday restocking and stockpiling activities, driving a slight recovery in rigid market demand. However, driven by the transmission of earlier high costs, second-life battery market prices had already risen last week, and the current overall price level was already in a relatively high level range. End-user terminals showed weak willingness to accept high-priced sources and remained cautious about purchasing at high prices. The demand side could hardly continue to drive prices to rise, with most participants purchasing as needed. Under the counterbalance of multiple factors, second-life battery market prices this week basically maintained a sideways and steady trend.