This Week, the MHP and High-Grade Nickel Matte Markets Showed a Pattern of Weak Supply and Demand on Both Sides, with the Coefficient Remaining Stable

South African utility Eskom has extended its registration fee waiver for small-scale embedded generation ('SSEG') systems under 50 kW until September 30. The waiver, originally set to expire in March, aims to encourage safe and compliant grid connections without deterring solar adoption. Eskom is also testing a new prepaid option for residential rooftop solar customers. While the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association ('SAPVIA') welcomed the extension for removing the financial barrier to compliance, it urged local municipalities to streamline their own cumbersome approval processes, which continue to delay the national energy transition.

Refined Cobalt: This week, spot refined cobalt prices trended downward under the influence of capital flows and macro sentiment. Supply side, mainstream smelters kept ex-factory prices stable; after spot prices fell, traders' sentiment to hold prices firm strengthened, and spot-futures price spread quotations were raised to above parity. Demand side, lower spot prices improved downstream purchasing sentiment and slightly lifted transactions, but affected by fluctuations in related metals, downstream buyers remained cautious and mainly made just-in-time procurement. This week, the DRC announced an extension of cobalt intermediate product export quotas for Q4 2025, increasing export uncertainty; the structurally tight raw material situation in China remained unresolved, providing bottom support for cobalt prices. Cobalt Intermediate Products: This week, cobalt intermediate product prices edged up. The DRC announced its quota extension policy, under which Q4 2025 quotas can be extended by up to one month, and Q1 2026 quotas can be extended to the end of June; it is understood that the core reason for the current slow approval process for intermediate products is the lack of local detection personnel. Supply side, some miners sold small volumes of futures cobalt intermediate products this week, with quotations above $25.9/lb. Demand side, most smelters remained on the sidelines as cobalt salt prices struggled to catch up and available-for-sale intermediate products were scarce, and actual transactions were sluggish. Overall, based on the current pace of shipments, large-volume arrivals of cobalt intermediate products at port may be delayed to June-July. After downstream orders become clear and procurement demand is released, intermediate product prices will still have upside room. Going forward, continued attention should be paid to export progress in the DRC and the pace of downstream demand recovery. Cobalt Sulphate: This week, the spot market for cobalt sulphate operated steadily, with no significant price fluctuations, and overall continued to move sideways within a narrow range. Supply side, the continued tightness in raw materials supported smelter quotations, with the mainstream quotation range stable at 95,000-98,000 yuan/mt. At the beginning of the week, a small number of enterprises made low-priced shipments at 91,000-95,000 yuan/mt due to financial reporting and funding pressure, but these enterprises have now basically completed cash realization. Demand remained mediocre, as downstream enterprises were still cautious about expectations for subsequent orders, and their own raw material inventory remained ample, resulting in low purchasing enthusiasm. They only purchased small volumes of low-priced cargoes as needed, and overall market trading activity was weak. In the short term, the market remained in an inventory digestion cycle, with buyers and sellers in a stalemate, making large price swings unlikely. In the long term, uncertainty over raw material supply from the DRC will still support the cost side. As downstream inventories are effectively depleted, cobalt sulphate prices are expected to gradually rebound and recover.

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New Delhi quietly renewed BIS certification waivers through September 2026, even as it talks tough on Chinese overcapacity. The contradiction reveals more about India's industrial gaps than its trade policy convictions

Since the beginning of 2026, the lithium battery materials industry has seen a new wave of structural positioning led by chemical giants. In March, Dazhong Mining announced that it planned to sign a tripartite agreement with the Meishan High-tech Zone Administrative Committee and Wanhua Chemical (Sichuan) Battery Materials Technology Co., Ltd. to jointly invest in and build a “200,000 mt/year lithium chemicals project,” with Phase I expected to be planned at 30,000 mt.