Lithium: The soft lithium carbonate spot prices yesterday weighed on the lithium ore prices, and the inquiries for lithium ore were lackluster. There heard not many transactions yesterday. The market players were cautious with the lithium price trend unclear. It is likely that the lithium ore prices will move rangebound in the near term. For lithium carbonate, the spot prices dropped slightly as the market was in lack of bullish factors. And the market players stood on the sidelines, with the transaction prices falling as well. It is likely that the lithium carbonate prices will keep rangebound in the near future.
Nickel: The market players stood on the sidelines post the holiday. The nickel sulfate producers held the prices firm as nickel price surged during the holiday, and some refrained from making quotations. The demand was poor at present as the downstream players had sufficient stocks. Currently the nickel sulfate prices are subject to the macro front, and both the supply and demand have been weak.
Cobalt: The cobalt intermediates prices stabilized at present, offerting certain cost support to cobalt sulfate prices. The producers started to negotiate the long-term orders for raw materials. But the downstream demand has been poor, putting pressure on the shipment of cobalt sulfate produers. The mainstream transaction prices were low though the producers tried to hold the prices firm on high cost. Hence it is likely that the cobalt sulfate prices will remain soft in the short period.
Battery scrap: The prices on the battery scrap market was modest yesterday with normal transactions. The hydrometallurgical plants purchased to maintain normal production, with the speculators staying silent. The transactions of NMC scrap were mostly with production waste, and some offered relatively high bids for high grade products.