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.

Cost Support Strengthened, Nickel Sulphate Prices Rose As of this Thursday, SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate average prices rose WoW. Demand side, with Labour Day holiday approaching, some producers recently stockpiled ahead of the holiday. Combined with recovering production schedule expectations for May at some enterprises, acceptance of nickel salt prices increased. Supply side, as nickel prices, MHP payables, and auxiliary material prices all moved up this week, driving a significant rise in spot costs for some producers, nickel salt quoted prices rose accordingly. Looking ahead, recently Inventory, upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index slightly rose from 5.5 days to 5.6 days this week, downstream precursor plant inventory index stayed at 11 days, and integrated enterprise inventory index declined from 7.3 days to 6.8 days. Buy-sell strength, upstream nickel salt smelter Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor rose from 1.9 to 2 this week, downstream precursor plant procurement sentiment factor stayed at 2.9, and integrated enterprise sentiment factor stayed at 2.6. (Historical data available via database query) Nickel Prices Rose Sharply, Nickel Sulphate Costs Increased Cost side, MHP raw material market circulation was tight. Affected by sulphur shortages and HPM revisions, MHP transaction coefficients stayed high this week, with quoted coefficients further rising. Nickel prices, stimulated by news of intermediate product production halts in Indonesia, rose further this week. Overall for the week, nickel prices basically rose WoW, MHP payables held steady, driving nickel salt production spot costs up WoW.

According to SMM data, on April 29, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate average price rose sharply by 450 yuan/mt from the previous day.

According to SMM data, on April 28, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate average price rose sharply by 350 yuan/mt from the previous day.

According to SMM data, on April 24, the SMM average price of battery-grade nickel sulphate rose by 50 yuan/mt from the previous day.

This week, the second-life battery market saw overall prices edge up, with market conditions rising on cost support and demand boost. Cost side, prices of major lithium battery raw materials diverged this week. Lithium carbonate prices maintained a fluctuating yet upward trend, providing notable support to overall costs. Nickel sulphate prices edged up in tandem, while cobalt sulphate prices remained stable and edged down slightly. Under the combined effect of various raw materials, the cost side of second-life battery cells overall stayed high. Supply side, shipment pace of second-life battery cells as well as Grade A and Grade B battery cells for well-known mobile phones from battery cell manufacturers remained largely stable. The volume of goods circulating in the market showed no significant increase or decrease, and the supply side maintained an overall stable trend without causing notable disruption to market prices. Demand side, as lithium, cobalt, nickel and other salt products continued to fluctuate at highs over the long term, elevated costs provided strong support to second-life battery market prices, thereby driving overall market prices to edge up recently. Among them, high-demand battery cells in the ESS sector saw more significant price increases. Prices of mainstream ESS-grade battery cells such as Grade A 314Ah and 280Ah models continued to rise, with current price levels gradually approaching those of brand-new battery cells.

This week, ternary cathode precursor prices rose. Nickel sulphate prices increased today, cobalt sulphate prices declined, and manganese sulphate prices held steady.

As of this Thursday, the SMM average price of battery-grade nickel sulphate rose WoW. Demand side, with the Labour Day holiday approaching, some producers recently stockpiled ahead of the holiday. Combined with recovering expectations for downstream orders at some enterprises, acceptance of nickel salt prices increased. Supply side, as nickel prices, MHP payables, and auxiliary material prices all edged up this week, spot costs at some producers rose significantly, and nickel salt offer prices were raised accordingly. Looking ahead, cost support for nickel salt has strengthened recently, but upside room for prices depends on downstream procurement pace. Inventory side, the upstream nickel salt smelter inventory index fell from 6.4 days to 5.5 days this week, the downstream precursor plant inventory index rose from 8.7 days to 11 days, and the integrated enterprise inventory index remained at 7.3 days. In terms of buying and selling strength, the upstream nickel salt smelter Willingness to Sell Sentiment Factor held at 1.9 this week, the downstream precursor plant procurement sentiment factor rose from 2.7 to 2.9, and the integrated enterprise sentiment factor rose from 2.3 to 2.6. (Historical data can be accessed via the database.)

According to the latest data from China Customs, China's total nickel sulphate imports in March 2026 reached 6,530 mt in metal content, up 17% MoM and up 61% YoY. China's nickel sulphate exports totaled 114 mt in metal content, up 249% MoM and up 31% YoY. Net imports of nickel sulphate in March 2026 stood at 6,416 mt in metal content, up 16% MoM and up 62% YoY.

According to the latest data from China Customs, China's total nickel sulphate imports in March 2026 reached 6,530 mt in metal content, up 17% MoM and up 61% YoY. China's nickel sulphate exports totaled 114 mt in metal content, up 249% MoM and up 31% YoY. Net imports of nickel sulphate in March 2026 stood at 6,416 mt in metal content, up 16% MoM and up 62% YoY. By country, exports to Japan rose this month, driving total exports higher. On the import side, imports from Indonesia, South Korea and other countries increased this month. Although imports from Finland pulled back, total imports still posted notable growth. Net imports of nickel salts rose this month, largely in line with last month's expectations.