Payables for nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) black mass in the CIF South Korea market picked up in March amid stronger demand and improving battery raw materials prices

Read more about how we are segmenting our lithium price assessments for western markets

China’s lithium prices extended loss over the week to Thursday March 28 after a major slump in the futures market on Monday March 25, while consumers continued to restock on a hand-to-mouth basis, sources told Fastmarkets

Chile’s government has laid out its plan to significantly boost the country’s lithium production, opening up 26 lithium salt flats for private investment and naming the Atacama and Maricunga salt flats as strategic to the state.

The result of Albemarle’s spodumene concentrate digital bidding event on Tuesday March 26 was 9,372 yuan ($1,230) per tonne on an ex-works China basis, according to sources close to the matter

China’s graphite exports continued to fall in the first two months of 2024 after the implementation of the export controls on certain graphite-related products on December 1, 2023

Producing battery-grade manganese sulfate in China is “logical” even for non-Chinese companies, due to the country’s strong demand and cost competitiveness, according to the chief executive officer of emerging Australia-headquartered producer Firebird Metals

China’s domestic fluorspar prices reacted immediately to the announcement this week that China is set to conduct a country-wide safety inspection and rectification of fluorspar mining from March to August this year

Warmer sentiment for lithium and nickel prices in Asian markets was not able to attract more buying interest for black mass from South Korean buyers in the week ended Wednesday March 13, due to continued thin margins at recyclers, according to market sources

Spot lithium prices in China’s domestic market remained on an uptrend in the week to Thursday March 14, following the strong futures market and rising spot offer prices, while market participants noted sporadic restocking activities