This week, the industry chain continued to show overall weakness and divergence. Refined cobalt was affected by the consumption off-season and summer break; mainstream smelters lowered quotes to 335,000 yuan/mt, and downstream users maintained only essential restocking. The buy-sell price spread for intermediate products widened, tenders continued to fail, and market trading nearly stalled. Cobalt sulphate, cobalt chloride, Co3O4 and cobalt powder all fell under pressure; low-priced material increased, and market prices gradually converged toward actual transaction and cost ranges, leaving the market still in a bottoming phase in the near term. Ternary cathode precursor prices slid as nickel and cobalt salts weakened; production schedules recovered at top-tier players, but small and mid-sized producers remained constrained by the off-season. Supported by the rebound in lithium chemicals, peak-season stockpiling and European auto sales, ternary cathode material prices edged up slightly, and August orders were steady to slightly higher. LCO demand recovery remained slow, and price cuts did not noticeably boost shipments. Industry side, Sinomine Resource Group's lithium sulfate project in Zimbabwe entered full-scale construction, Hithium secured a 421 MWh energy storage project in Australia, and cooperation in the charging industry continued to advance.

his week, the Chicago Summit clarified the industry timeline: oxide electrolytes will be prioritized for deployment within 2–3 years, while all‑solid‑state sulfide batteries will be delayed until 2028–2030. The Baihu Lake Laboratory achieved a breakthrough in boride‑based solid‑state batteries with 400 Wh/kg, wide temperature range, and low‑pressure operation, targeting low‑altitude economy and robotics applications.

[SMM Solid-State Battery Weekly Analysis: Summit Sets the "Oxide First, Sulphide Delayed" Tone; Capital and Projects Accelerate in Resonance on the Eve of Mass Production] This week, the Chicago summit set the industry pace: oxide electrolytes are expected to be deployed first within 2-3 years, while sulphide all-solid-state batteries are postponed to the period from 2028 to 2030. Baima Lake Laboratory's boride solid-state battery has broken through 400 Wh/kg, operating over a wide temperature range and under low pressure, and targeting low-altitude economy and robotics scenarios. Sichuan Advanced Battery Innovation Center will be delivered at the end of August, Shandong Chuanglu's 100 mt-class production line will enter mass production, and De'er Co., Ltd.'s PACK pilot line was completed. Ruizhi New Energy and Guxin Energy raised a combined total of more than 100 million yuan, a joint laboratory for robot batteries was established, and solid-state batteries have fully transitioned from the laboratory to mass-production-driven development.

This week, ternary cathode precursor prices weakened. During the week, nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate prices declined, while manganese sulphate prices remained stable.

According to industry sources on August 10, HL-GA selected LG Chem last month as a cathode materials supplier for electric vehicle batteries. The cathode materials will be used in 2029 model-year electric vehicles to be produced at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA). LG Chem will supply HL-GA with nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) ternary cathode materials, including both high-nickel and mid-nickel products.

This week, the industry chain as a whole remained in the doldrums. In the traditional consumption off-season, end-use demand recovery was limited, and market transactions were generally sluggish. Electrolytic products continued to grind lower, affected by loosening overseas quotes and weakening domestic salts and intermediate product prices, leading to rising bearish sentiment. The divergence between miners holding intermediate product prices firm and downstream pushing for lower prices widened, hindering actual transactions. The sulphate, chloride, tetroxide, and powder markets all faced insufficient demand and inventory pressure, with some low-priced supply increasing, keeping short-term prices under pressure. Ternary cathode precursor prices were temporarily stable; top-tier player production load recovered somewhat, and export orders performed well. Ternary cathode material prices rebounded slightly, with EV market orders in August stable and growing, but the consumer market improvement remained insignificant. LCO supply and demand remained mediocre, with prices still likely to decline. On the policy front, multiple regions continued to optimize auto consumption subsidies, the catalogue of vehicle models eligible for vehicle and vessel tax exemptions expanded, and end-use consumption stimulus policies continued to advance.

[SMM Express] Transport-related costs remain an important cost challenge for South Africa's chrome industry. The Minerals Council South Africa said in its latest Mining Input Cost Inflation report that chrome and manganese experienced elevated input-cost inflation in June, largely due to their reliance on transportation networks, particularly road freight, where higher fuel prices have increased operating costs. The pressure comes alongside elevated energy costs, with the Minerals Council noting that higher fuel prices and the full impact of winter electricity tariffs are expected to keep mining input-cost inflation elevated in the coming months. For chrome producers, the combination of fuel-intensive ore transportation and higher power costs could continue to weigh on margins, particularly for operations dependent on longer road-haulage routes to processing plants and export corridors.

【KB Recycling Signs Black Mass Offtake MoU with BatX Energies】 Indian battery recycler KB Recycling has signed a downstream offtake memorandum of understanding (MoU) with BatX Energies, under which BatX will process black mass generated from KB Recycling's upcoming recycling facility to recover battery materials including lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese. KB Recycling is developing a battery recycling facility in the Visakhapatnam industrial corridor with a planned processing capacity of 3,000 tonnes per year, targeting lithium-ion battery waste and manufacturing scrap. The partnership is expected to strengthen India's domestic black mass processing and battery material recycling value chain while supporting EPR compliance.

As of this Friday, SiMn 6517 (cash) in north China stood at 5,600-5,650 yuan/mt, down WoW; SiMn 6517 (cash) in south China stood at 5,700-5,750 yuan/mt, flat WoW; SiMn 6014 (cash) in south China stood at 5,350-5,450 yuan/mt, up WoW. Recently, SiMn futures moved sideways weakly, market sentiment was deeply pessimistic, spot prices fell, and futures and spot prices largely moved in tandem.

Aug 7 News: At north China ports, manganese ore prices declined WoW across all grades: 46% Australian lumps (40-40.5 yuan/mtu), South African semi-carbonate (32.7-33.2 yuan/mtu), Gabonese ore (37.8-38.2 yuan/mtu), South African high-iron ore (28.5-29 yuan/mtu), and South African medium-iron ore (35-35.5 yuan/mtu). At south China ports, manganese ore prices were mixed WoW: 46% Australian lumps (42.9-43.4 yuan/mtu) remained flat, South African semi-carbonate (36.3-36.8 yuan/mtu) declined, Gabonese ore (40.6-41.1 yuan/mtu) declined, South African high-iron ore (31.2-31.7 yuan/mtu) declined, and South African medium-iron ore (38-38.5 yuan/mtu) remained flat. Manganese ore market prices are grinding lower, end-use demand is sluggish, and traders are commonly cutting prices to sell.