Recently, the official website of Zhuzhou Economic Development Zone in Hunan Province released information regarding a pre-approval public notice for the environmental impact report of the annual 10,000-ton lithium battery material production line recycling renovation project of Hunan Leaguer Group Co., Ltd. The project is located at No. 1728, Changlong Road, Zhuzhou Economic Development Zone, Hunan Province. The project will utilize existing factory buildings for renovation. It involves retrofitting the existing ternary precursor cathode material production line 1 (5,000 t/a) by adding a nickel-cobalt-manganese mixed metal dissolution and impurity removal process; converting the existing 5,000 t/a iron phosphate production line into ternary precursor cathode material production line 2 (5,000 t/a); trial production of ternary precursor cathode materials will continue to rely on the existing pilot-scale line; simultaneously, the treatment measures for production exhaust gas, wastewater, and solid waste will be renovated.

On June 18, GEM disclosed that its main business growth drivers include focusing on core businesses such as key metal recycling and extraction, power lithium battery recycling, and new energy material core manufacturing. In the ternary precursor business, the company focuses on expanding the high-end product market. Regarding ternary cathode materials, the company focuses on high-profit segments such as small power applications, planning shipments to exceed 35,000 tons in 2026 and 60,000 tons in 2028. At the same time, the company is actively positioning itself in next-generation battery material technologies. High-nickel, ultra-high-nickel ternary cathode materials, and lithium-rich manganese-based cathode materials are considered the mainstream research directions for future solid-state batteries. The company has teamed up with Ningbo Eastern University of Technology and the academician team of Sun Xueliang to promote the industrialization of related technologies.

SMM, May 29: Spot prices of cobalt products overall fluctuated downward this week. The cobalt intermediate products market continued to receive some support from the slow quota approval process and tight logistics capacity in the DRC. However, the mediocre performance of demand in the overall cobalt market continued to weigh on the market. Can cobalt salt prices find support going forward? Where is the price inflection point? ...SMM compiled the price changes in the cobalt market this week, as follows: : According to SMM spot quotes, spot refined cobalt prices fluctuated downward this week. After three consecutive trading days of decline, on May 29, spot refined cobalt prices fell to 419,000-429,000 yuan/mt, with an average price of 424,000 yuan/mt, down 3,000 yuan/mt from May 22, a decline of 0.7%. Supply and demand side, mainstream smelters largely completed their sales targets at the month-end stage, keeping quotes stable. Traders' spot-futures price spread ran at parity to a premium of 8,000-10,000 yuan/mt. Downstream alloy and magnetic material enterprises continued purchasing as needed, with no relaxation in raw material inventory control. The metal price spread between refined cobalt and low-priced cobalt salts had largely converged, and the industry's willingness to conduct reverse dissolution production remained subdued. SMM expects the market to continue its fluctuating trend in the short term, and refined cobalt prices still need support from the cobalt salt market to rise. Cobalt Salts ( and ): : According to SMM spot quotes, spot cobalt sulphate prices fluctuated downward this week. As of May 29, spot cobalt sulphate prices temporarily stabilized at 91,000-93,000 yuan/mt, with an average price of 92,000 yuan/mt, down 1,500 yuan/mt from 93,500 yuan/mt on May 22, a decline of 1.6%. Supply and demand side, mainstream brands' quotes on the supply side pulled back to 91,000-95,000 yuan/mt. Some smelters and traders cut prices to ship out due to capital turnover pressure, with low-priced cargoes in the market reaching as low as 87,000-88,000 yuan/mt. Demand side, the market was primarily focused on destocking, with a sluggish procurement atmosphere and only sporadic just-in-time procurement. Downstream industry trends diverged: LCO enterprises' production schedules fell short of expectations, compounded by slow order placement, resulting in a strong wait-and-see sentiment; ternary precursor enterprises saw improving production schedules, with purchase willingness gradually rebounding. SMM expects prices to remain in the doldrums in the short term, and a recovery in cobalt sulphate prices still awaits the release of concentrated restocking demand from downstream. : According to SMM spot quotes, cobalt chloride spot prices remained stable after declining on the first trading day of May 25 this week. As of May 29, cobalt chloride spot prices held steady at 111,500-115,200 yuan/mt, with an average price of 113,350 yuan/mt, down 400 yuan/mt from May 22, a decline of 0.35%. Spot market, the cobalt chloride market atmosphere remained mediocre this week. Supply side, top-tier players continued their strategy of holding prices firm, refusing to ship at low prices, providing bottom support for prices. Meanwhile, small and medium-sized producers, under pressure from capital recovery and performance targets, proactively lowered their offers, but transactions remained scarce even after price cuts, driving the market negotiation center to continue shifting downward. Demand side, downstream enterprises were constrained by weak orders and high inventory, with purchase willingness remaining subdued. SMM believes that current prices already have strong support, with limited room for further weakness, and maintains optimistic expectations for the market outlook. Cost side, prices are expected to recover and rebound going forward, but upside room is constrained, with the timing roughly around June . : According to SMM spot quotes, Co3O4 spot prices also fluctuated downward this week. As of May 29, Co3O4 spot prices fell to 345,000-357,000 yuan/mt, with an average price of 351,000 yuan/mt, down 7,000 yuan/mt from 358,000 yuan/mt on May 22, a decline of 1.96%. According to SMM, the Co3O4 market continued its sluggish trend this week. Supply side, producers found it difficult to hold high prices and offered concessions to facilitate shipments, yet product inventory continued to accumulate. Demand side, downstream LCO material enterprises still relied mainly on client-supplied materials and long-term contract procurement, with spot order demand continuing to shrink. Meanwhile, affected by weak end-user demand, some clients had begun to slow down the pace of long-term contract cargo pick-up. Looking ahead, the sluggish landscape of the Co3O4 market is unlikely to change in the short term, but SMM still holds a positive view on prices, though support comes more from the cost side, with the boost from supply-demand and procurement remaining relatively limited. Regarding raw material cobalt intermediate products, according to SMM spot quotes, cobalt intermediate products (CIF China) spot prices edged down $0.1/lb on the last trading day this week, quoted at $25.8-26/lb, with an average price of $25.9/lb. Supply-demand side, the supply side maintained a strong bullish sentiment, holding offers near $26/lb. Due to the sluggish cobalt salt market, downstream smelters remained cautious in procurement, making only just-in-time procurement, with some non-standard cargoes transacted at $25/lb. Currently, 2026 Q1 quotas saw slow approval progress due to cumbersome procedures; coupled with tight logistics capacity in the DRC, cobalt raw material transportation was given lower priority, and the arrival of large shipments at ports continued to be delayed. Short-term demand support remained weak, and prices may continue to trade sideways; a subsequent market strengthening will still depend on downstream demand recovery and cobalt salt price repair. News side, recently, cobalt product import and export data were released. Regarding unwrought cobalt, according to data from the General Administration of Customs, China's unwrought cobalt imports in April 2026 were approximately 1,334 mt, up 39% MoM and up 59% YoY. April refined cobalt imports mainly came from Indonesia, Russia, and Madagascar, with imports of 462 mt, 457 mt, and 182 mt respectively. The main reason for the increase this month was that domestic smelters lacked intermediate product raw materials and imported cobalt slabs and cobalt briquettes for re-dissolution to ensure normal production. In terms of average import price, the average import price of China's unwrought cobalt in April 2026 was $52,724/mt, up 4.72% MoM. Cumulative imports from January to April 2026 totaled 5,916 mt, up 153% YoY cumulatively. Export side, China's unwrought cobalt exports in April 2026 were approximately 218 mt, down 47% MoM and down 95% YoY. By country, China's exports to the US dropped significantly, with April exports to the US at 35 mt, down 87.5% MoM. The main reason was that US demand for alloy-grade refined cobalt pulled back in April, and ex-China branded refined cobalt was sufficient to meet regional demand, with some refined cobalt traders redirecting destinations from the US back to China. In terms of average export price, the average export price of China's unwrought cobalt in April 2026 was $54,590/mt, up 5.80% MoM. Cumulative exports from January to April 2026 totaled 1,792 mt, down 76% YoY cumulatively. Cobalt hydrometallurgy intermediate products side, China's cobalt hydrometallurgy intermediate products imports in April 2026 were approximately 1,247 mt in physical content, down 26% MoM and down 98% YoY, of which imports from the DRC were approximately 945 mt in physical content, down 43% MoM and down 98% YoY. The average import price of China's cobalt hydrometallurgy intermediate products in April 2026 was $17,187/mt, up 2.63% MoM. It was learned that most miners had completed 2025 Q4 quota approvals, but 2026 Q1 quota approvals again experienced reduced efficiency due to sampling, detection, and other procedural issues. Coupled with the current tight logistics capacity in the DRC, fleets prioritized transporting production-critical oil products and chemicals for economic reasons, followed by other metals with shorter turnover cycles, and cobalt in non-ferrous metals came last, facing significant transportation capacity challenges. Constrained by the above factors, miners primarily focused on building in-transit inventory and had not yet concentrated on chartering vessels, so the arrival of large volumes of intermediate products at ports may continue to be delayed.

Refined Cobalt: Spot refined cobalt remained generally stable this week, with prices slightly under pressure. At the month-end stage, mainstream smelters largely completed their sales targets, keeping offers steady. Traders' spot-futures price spread ranged from parity to a premium of 8,000-10,000 yuan/mt. Downstream alloy and magnetic material enterprises continued purchasing as needed, with no relaxation in raw material inventory controls. The metal price spread between refined cobalt and lower-priced cobalt salts has largely narrowed to parity, dampening industry willingness for reverse dissolution production. The market is expected to remain range-bound in the short term, and upward price movement still depends on a boost from the cobalt salt market. Cobalt Intermediate Products: Cobalt intermediate product prices continued to hold steady this week. The supply side maintained a strong bullish sentiment, with offers firmly around $26/lb. Constrained by the sluggish cobalt salt market, downstream smelters remained cautious in procurement, making only just-in-time procurement, with some non-standard cargoes transacted at $25/lb. Currently, Q1 2026 quotas are still subject to slow approval progress due to cumbersome procedures; coupled with tight logistics capacity in the DRC, cobalt raw material transportation has lower priority, and the arrival of large shipments at ports continues to be delayed. Short-term demand support remains weak, and prices are likely to continue trading sideways; a subsequent strengthening of the market still depends on downstream demand recovery and cobalt salt price repair. Cobalt Sulphate: Spot cobalt sulphate prices continued to weaken this week. On the supply side, mainstream brand offers pulled back to 91,000-95,000 yuan/mt, with some smelters and traders cutting prices for shipments under capital turnover pressure, and low-priced cargoes in the market falling to 87,000-88,000 yuan/mt. On the demand side, destocking remained the dominant theme, with a sluggish purchasing atmosphere and only sporadic just-in-time procurement. Downstream industry trends diverged: LCO enterprises saw production schedules fall short of expectations, compounded by slow order placement, resulting in strong wait-and-see sentiment; ternary precursor enterprises saw improving production schedules, with purchase willingness gradually rebounding. Short-term prices are likely to remain in the doldrums, and market recovery still awaits the release of concentrated restocking demand from downstream. SMM New Energy Research Team Wang Cong 021-51666838 Ma Rui 021-51595780 Feng Disheng 021-51666714 Lv Yanlin 021-20707875 Xiao Wenhao 021-51666872 Zhang Haohan 021-51666752 Wang Zihan 021-51666914 Wang Jie 021-51595902 Xu Yang 021-51666760 Yang Lianting 021-51595835 Wang Zhaoyu 021-51666827

Recently, China’s manganese sulfate market has shown an operating pattern of rigid cost bottoming and differentiated demand structure. Divergent performance is seen between battery-grade and industrial-grade manganese sulfate, while the overall market remains steady with a firm undertone.

South Korean company Cosmo Chemical announced on the 23rd that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a producer located in Indonesia—affiliated with a Chinese group that holds the world’s largest market share in ternary precursor materials—to establish a long-term supply partnership for battery-grade nickel sulfate and cobalt sulfate. Under the agreement, from this year through 2030 the two parties will cooperate on the stable procurement and supply of battery-grade nickel and cobalt sulfate, with planned annual deliveries of approximately 2,000 tons. Based on current market prices, the total value could reach up to KRW 200 billion.

Currently, it appears that payables—whether for long-term contracts or spot contracts—are not expected to change significantly before the holiday, remaining largely consistent with January levels.

Leading manufacturers have maintained a relatively high production pace recently, with a rush to export bringing some order growth. However, the scale of this growth has fallen short of earlier expectations.

Recently, CNGR Advanced Material Co., Ltd. engaged in a conference call with 26 institutional investors, including Shangzheng Fund, Harvest Fund, and Bosera Fund. According to the exchange, the company maintains a leading position in its core business segments. In 2025, the company's shipments of ternary precursors continued to rank first in the global market. In the phosphorus-based materials segment, it has built a production capacity of nearly 200,000 tons for lithium iron phosphate and 50,000 tons for lithium iron phosphate cathode materials. Additionally, the company continues to deepen its expansion into upstream key resources. Its nickel resource project in Indonesia is progressing as planned with relevant approvals underway, and it has secured nickel ore resource supplies amounting to 500–600 million wet tons through various arrangements.

Currently, the export of ternary precursors and ternary cathode materials enjoys a 13% VAT export rebate. A noticeable surge in concentrated "pre-rebate" exports is anticipated in the first quarter.