South Korean black mass payables drop in September on poor metal margins

Prices for nickel on the London Metal Exchange started the month in bearish fashion, but gained ground towards the end of the month, partly on Chinese stimulus measures helping the country’s stainless steel sector, which is the major consumer market of nickel.

Fastmarkets’ lithium carbonate spot battery-grade prices fell in early September before recovering slightly towards the end of the month, while cobalt standard-grade prices remained largely depressed throughout the month.

Keep scrolling for an overview of price movements in Asia and Europe

Asia

South Korean black mass consumers had voiced concerns in August that black mass payables were too expensive for them to manage, and the clamor became stronger in early September on the nickel and lithium price drops.

Fastmarkets heard that some major consumers of black mass had reduced their operation rates in response to the metal margin crunch, leading to a reduction in demand for black mass. Trading was also halted during the middle of the month due to the Korean Chuseok mid-autumn festival during September 16-18.

The lack of buying interest led to most Korean buyers dropping their bids for nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) black mass to 60-65% CIF for payables of nickel and cobalt including the value of lithium.

Transactions were few and far between during the month. Some Japanese NCM black mass was heard sold at 66% CIF Southeast Asia for payables of nickel and cobalt including the value of lithium during the early part of the month. Higher-grade Japanese NCM black mass was heard sold at 73% CIF in the middle of the month, but then fell to 70% CIF by the end of the month, Fastmarkets heard.

Domestic NCM materials were heard purchased at 70% delivered South Korea for payables of nickel and cobalt including the value of lithium towards the end of the month, down from 70-75% delivered in late August.

European and US materials within Fastmarkets’ specifications, but which were understood to have lower metals contents within the methodology range, were heard sold in early September at payables of 65% CIF Southeast Asia for nickel and cobalt, and 2.5% CIF for lithium payables.

Fastmarkets’ South Korean black mass payable assessments calculate lithium separately from its nickel and cobalt payables, in line with demand from the market.

The average Fastmarkets payables assessments for black mass, NCM/NCA, payable indicator, nickel, cif South Korea, % payable LME nickel cash official price and black mass, NCM/NCA, payable indicator, cobalt, cif South Korea, % payable Fastmarkets’ standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) were both at 68.38% in September, down compared with 71% in August.

The average Fastmarkets payable assessment for 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 3.25% in September, down from 3.38% in August.

While offers for European and Japanese materials were heard to have fallen to 65-70% CIF Korea levels during the month, sellers in the US held their offers firm at 70-75% CIF Korea.

Some US sellers did not wish to sell their black mass below payables of 70% EXW US for nickel and cobalt because the material was available as a low-impurity and high-consistency cargo, Fastmarkets heard, which meant their CIF Asia offers remained inflated.

Fastmarkets’ daily price for black mass, NCM/NCA, inferred, cif South Korea averaged $3,829.65 per tonne in September. This compared with the average value in August of $4,049.88 per tonne.

The inferred price uses the midpoint of Fastmarkets’ black mass payables, the midpoint of metal contents in the black mass covered in the specification, and the underlying metal prices.

Europe

European black mass payables held largely firm in September despite the lower demand in Asia, according to market sources.

Sources said that recent decreases in container freight had allowed the gap between the EXW Europe and CIF Asia markets to narrow, while some European vendors were able to extract higher payables from overseas buyers for their materials.

Deals for hazardous waste-classified NCM black mass to traders or agents for export were heard at 53-58% EXW Europe in the second week of the month, while local buyers were indicating the market at 50% EXW for nickel and cobalt.

But Fastmarkets heard that local consumer buying levels remained low, with a lack of commercial-scale operational capacity in Europe meaning that most material was being exported.

Product status black mass, which does not need to pass through Basel convention notification procedures, was heard offered at 64-65% EXW Europe by the end of the month.

The average Fastmarkets payables assessments for black mass, NCM/NCA, payable indicator, nickel, domestic, exw Europe, % payable LME nickel cash official price and of the black mass, NCM/NCA, payable indicator, cobalt, domestic, exw Europe, % payable Fastmarkets’ standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) were both at 56% in September, up marginally from 55.5% in August.

Fastmarkets’ daily price for black mass, NCM/NCA, inferred, exw Europe averaged $3,056.99 per tonne in September. This compared with the average value in August of $3,106.69 per tonne.

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