MethodologyContact usSupportLogin
Key takeaways:
Companies across the global lithium-ion battery recycling chain are under pressure, with the major challenge facing most of them being the difficulty of sourcing feedstock.
Battery scrap availability is causing headaches for battery shredding pre-processors in regions such as Europe, while black mass supply is similarly blighting major post-processing plants in China and South Korea.
As typically happens in commodity markets, limited supply means elevated prices for these key feedstocks, while battery metals prices continue to be much lower than they were three years ago – despite 2025 price rallies for both cobalt and, more recently, lithium.
These crucial talking points will be at the forefront of delegates’ minds when industry participants converge on Valencia, Spain, for the 30th International Congress for Battery Recycling (ICBR), to take place on September 10-12, 2025.
Prices for battery scrap have generally been on an uptrend in Europe over the past couple of years, in line with greater competition for tonnage among recyclers amid higher black mass production capacity.
This has meant that companies which previously were paid to take scrap – known as receiving “gate fees” – have generally been giving payables to secure materials over the past year. But this balance has been starting to shift, according to trade sources.
“Because of the lack of scrap available, we now need to take a gate fee again,” a European recycler source told Fastmarkets in June. “Low capacity utilization is badly damaging operating margins at European recyclers, because fixed costs are very high and we don’t have the volume.
“Moreover,” he said, “total active capacity to produce black mass in Europe is much lower than has been announced publicly by recyclers, and there are not many companies able to properly treat end-of-life [EOL] scrap.”
European recyclers are increasingly feeling the consequences of higher feedstock costs, combined with slow-growing volumes of EOL material together with reduced gigafactory scrap output and higher Chinese battery imports, market sources said.
“Cells are being made in China, and Europe is an assembly line only,” a second European recycler source said. “Earlier this year, we had supply from one battery manufacturer, but that has stopped now.”
A third recycler source added that reduced electric vehicle (EV) battery output at key European plants – such as LG Energy Solution in Wrocław, Poland, and Samsung SDI in in Göd, Hungary – had meant that recyclers were being forced to “feed on crumbs.”
Fears have also been raised over the near-term future of units such as insolvent Swedish batterymaker Northvolt’s Revolt recycling facility, due to lack of feedstock. The post-treatment hydrometallurgical plant was not named as part of lithium-sulfur specialist Lyten’s takeover last week of the remaining Northvolt assets, according to a second European recycler source.
Newer post-treatment recyclers based in Europe and looking to expand their operations are also seeking ex-Northvolt staff with knowledge of scaling-up recycling operations, Fastmarkets understands.
Rising capacity to produce black mass in the US has also created a very competitive market for scrap in that market over the past two years.
“Currently, we have shredding overcapacity in the country, so we [recyclers] are campaigning for the same material and the payables for the feedstock are pretty high,” Ascend Elements’ market intelligence and product manager, Anton Popiy, said at Fastmarkets’ Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials Conference 2025, in June.
Despite the operational issues for pre-processing recyclers, such companies can obtain high prices for their black mass in key Asian import markets such as South Korea, if they are able to make materials of low impurity and good quality.
Major Korean consumers are facing very poor margins, buying black mass at high prices and producing recycled, technical-grade materials at discounted prices due to weak downstream market dynamics, industry sources said.
“In terms of supply globally, we are seeing decreasing amounts of black mass produced,” a Korean recycler source said last month. “Due to competition [with the Southeast Asia market], we couldn’t secure enough materials.”
“Recyclers in Korea are still looking very actively for materials in the global markets, at least to keep their plants running,” a second Korean recycler source said on August 13. “Major plants which are running at high capacities – although not many recyclers are able to do that – are willing to pay very competitive payables to attract raw materials.”
Furthermore, the world’s largest recycling market, China, opened its doors to imports of black mass on August 1, albeit at strict impurity levels, providing potential further opportunities to producers of high-quality materials.
Fastmarkets’ weekly assessments of the black mass, NCM/NCA, payable indicator, nickel, cif South Korea, % payable LME Nickel cash official price, and of the black mass, NCM/NCA, payable indicator, cobalt, cif South Korea, % payable Fastmarkets’ standard-grade cobalt price (low-end), were both 77-83% on August 13, up week on week from 75-81%.
That was also the highest level recorded by Fastmarkets since August 2023 on the nickel and cobalt payables.
But the value of lithium in black mass in the Korean market has been reduced over the past year amid weaker lithium pricing, which made recycling the key metal less profitable for Korean buyers.
The weekly assessment of the black mass, NCM/NCA, payable indicator, lithium, cif South Korea, % payable Fastmarkets’ lithium carbonate 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot prices, cif China, Japan & Korea, was 0-2% on August 13, unchanged week on week, but equalling the lowest level since pricing started in 2023.
Access trusted black mass prices and expert insights today!