In Charts: Comparing the European and North American black mass markets

The battery recycling industries in both Europe and North America are skewed towards black mass production through battery waste pretreatment, leading critical minerals to leak into Asia where there is an abundance of black mass refining capacity, primarily in the form of hydrometallurgy.

Although both recycling industries are at similar levels of maturity, there are key differences between how black mass is classified and priced in these regions.

How does black mass classification differ regionally?

In the US, black mass is classified as a solid waste and only given a hazardous classification if the material in question can be proven to have hazardous characteristics.

The European Union, by contrast, recently revised its ‘List of Waste’ to classify all black mass as hazardous waste, and thus subject it to ‘Waste Shipment Regulation’ in accordance with the Basel Convention. This requires companies to apply for Transfrontier Shipment of Waste (TFS) permits, effectively blocking the movement of black mass to non-OECD countries.

What differences are seen in pricing?

Once viewed as sources of cheaper feedstock, European and North American black mass nickel/cobalt payables have surged over the past couple of years, as perBenchmark’s Black Mass Price Assessment.

They are now at parity with those seen in the seaborne Asia market as price transparency has improved. As with the Asia (ex-China) market, lithium payables are not implemented in Europe or North America.

Historically, Europe’s black mass market has bifurcated based on whether the material was product- or waste-classified, with the former attracting higher payables.

North American black mass payables have been more harmonised, with generally higher payable levels. North America’s black mass payables are considered inflated by many market participants as a result of strong overseas demand and limited supply, creating a seller’s market in the region.

Despite the current similarity in pricing trends across these markets, Benchmark anticipates them to become more distinct following the European Commission’s move to uniformly classify black mass as a hazardous waste. It is expected that a fall in demand for European black mass, resulting from the material being more difficult to ship, will contribute to lower payables.

How are the European and North American markets similar?

The scrap pools in Europe and North America are broadly similar in terms of chemistry and size, with nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) material being the largest constituent of both region’s scrap pools.

In terms of the source of scrap, almost half of North America’s pool is from gigafactory waste, compared to just a third in Europe, as assessed byBenchmark’s Recycling Forecast.

Both region’s recycling industries are still in nascent stages of development, with Europe dominated by a large number of small- to medium-sized players, whilst North America’s industry comprises a smaller number of larger players.

Benchmark’s newly enhanced Black Mass Price Assessment now publishes all grades every two weeks, increasing from a monthly frequency. In addition, Benchmark has launched two new EXW Europe price grades in response to the growing maturity and liquidity being observed in the European black mass market.

Moreover, our Battery Recycling Forecast has gained several new features, with our acquisition of Rho Motion providing enriched demand-side data.

To learn more about Benchmark’s Battery Recycling and Black Mass intelligence, contact us here: