On 17 July, China’s finance ministry announced legislation ending eleven years of tax exemptions for the lithium ion battery industry. This is an effort to curtail overcapacity in the industry that is also likely to offer its growing sodium ion battery industry a comparative boost, as it will retain these exemptions. From 1 September 2026, a 2% consumption tax will be levied on lithium ion batteries, as well as all-vanadium redox flow and nickel-metal hydride batteries. From 1 September 2027, the rate will rise again to 4%.

Black mass payables were less volatile in Q2 2026 compared to Q1, as trading levels for the recycled intermediate responded to cooling battery metal markets, wavering demand and continued regional divergence. The largest movements were recorded in the seaborne Asia market, with CIF Asia NCM black mass from EOL and production scrap hitting all-time highs in May of 104.0% and 137.5%, respectively, as reported by Benchmark’s Black Mass Price Assessment. “By the end of the quarter, black mass payables had eased from May’s lofty heights,” Frederick Bloomfield, a senior price analyst at Benchmark, said. “The quarter saw a clear shift from broad strength towards a more cautious and regionally fragmented pricing environment as lithium prices began to show weakness.”

Geely electric vehicles (EVs) will begin production at Ford’s facility in Valencia, Spain, in 2028. The two automotive brands have formed a Europe-focused joint venture that seeks to revitalise Valencia amid growing cost pressures and competition. The new partnership will manufacture two electric Geely SUVs as well as a new multi-powertrain Ford crossover. While Chinese automakers are increasingly looking towards overseas EV markets for growth against a backdrop of a subdued domestic EV market, the expansion of Geely’s Chinese EV brands into Europe has been much less pronounced than BYD and Chery.

Benchmark’s July visit to Sigma Lithium's Grota do Cirilo operation in Minas Gerais, Brazil, came just before the company reported its strongest operating quarter in over a year. Sigma Lithium had paused operation at the mine in October 2025 for upgrades, though the restart was complicated by three waste piles at the site being shut down following a, now-resolved, government inspection at the start of 2026. Federico Gay, Benchmark’s principal lithium analyst, visited the site mid-July to “establish whether the mining restart had genuinely taken hold”. The visit also offered a chance to see on the ground how the self-imposed restructuring of its mine, following a period of operational bottlenecks, resulted in a significant operational turnaround “On the evidence in front of us,” Gay said, “the mine is operating at full capacity, with active blasting, continuous load and haul operations on both pits, supported by a fully functioning DMS plant, with a clear path of growth ahead."