Trafigura signs $1.1 billion recycling deal for battery metals from black mass

Trafigura has struck a $1.1 billion, 10-year offtake agreement with U.S.-based refiner Nth Cycle for recycled nickel and lithium, a deal that links battery-material recycling more directly to project financing for new refining capacity. The agreement, announced on April 8, 2026, comes as companies seek steadier supplies of battery metals outside the traditional mining pipeline.

Nth Cycle’s black mass output is tied to two new plants

Under the deal, Trafigura will buy 2,000 metric tons of contained nickel in mixed hydroxide precipitate and 1,500 metric tons of lithium carbonate each year. The materials will be refined from about 12,000 metric tons of battery black mass, the shredded residue left from used lithium-ion batteries and manufacturing scrap.

Nth Cycle said the supply will come from facilities under development in South Carolina and the Netherlands, both expected to begin operating in 2028. The company is positioning the contract as support for the buildout of those plants, which would expand refining capacity in North America and Europe.

Why the agreement matters for battery materials

The deal highlights a persistent bottleneck in the recycling chain: collection and shredding capacity have grown faster than the ability to refine recovered material into battery-ready products. Much of that refining capacity remains concentrated in Asia, with China still dominant in black mass processing.

Nth Cycle says its modular electro-extraction process is designed to run at smaller scale than conventional refiners and to generate refining chemicals on-site using electricity rather than external reagents. That model could lower capital needs and shorten construction timelines, two constraints that often slow new battery-material projects.

Long-term contracts are becoming the financing bridge

The agreement also reflects a broader shift in how recycled battery materials are reaching the market. Long-term offtake contracts are increasingly being used to secure buyers before plants are built, giving developers a clearer path to financing and lenders more confidence in future cash flow.

For battery materials suppliers, that matters because end-of-life feedstock remains uneven, even as the market for recycled nickel and lithium grows. Trafigura’s commitment gives Nth Cycle a commercial anchor as it tries to move from development toward operation.

The projects tied to the contract are still years away from startup, but the structure of the deal shows how battery recycling is moving from a waste-management story to a materials-supply business with industrial-scale financing behind it.