China’s State Reserve Bureau (SRB) is planning to purchase a large volume of cobalt metal for its stockpile, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 5

Recycling requirements under new European Union battery regulations could see exports of black mass from Europe fall close to zero as soon as 2025, Fastmarkets heard at the E-waste World battery recycling conference in Frankfurt last week

Market participants in the battery raw materials supply chain will have an increasing need to hedge lithium carbonate to mitigate price risks, and demand for this will soon grow in both Europe and North America

Panelists at an industry conference last month shared their opinions on what is known and unknown about the US government’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and its likely consequences for the global battery raw materials supply chain

Chinese participants are mulling over nickel sulfate exports into neighboring Japan and South Korea, with the main driver the regional price gap between China and these countries, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday June 27

Increased prices for key battery raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium are continuing to assist demand for shredded nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) lithium-ion batteries

The CME Group will launch a cash-settled lithium carbonate contract that will be settled against Fastmarkets’ assessment for lithium carbonate 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot prices cif China, Japan & Korea

China will extend its tax breaks for the purchase of new energy vehicles (NEVs) between 2024 and 2027

The price for spherical natural graphite in China has fallen to its lowest level in June 2023 since Fastmarkets began tracking it in 2012. The question remains, what is behind this historically low price?

Major Chinese battery makers are expanding their battery portfolio to sodium batteries from dominant LFP and NCM batteries. This is unlikely to impose much threat for the usage of lithium.