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Key takeaways:
Trading volume on the lithium carbonate contract in April totaled 3,473 lots as of Friday April 10, with 14 trading days of the month still left.
The contract’s previous monthly trading volume high was 2,373 lots in March 2026, highlighting the growing use of lithium carbonate futures as a hedging and risk management tool among market participants.
“The growing demand for energy storage projects this year has been reflected in the healthy growth of the CME lithium carbonate contract, with this increased need to hedge directly correlated to an uptick in active participants and volumes traded on the CME,” Anna Chadwick, head of battery metals at broker Freight Investor Services (FIS), told Fastmarkets.
Prior to March and April 2026, the contract’s monthly trading volume high was 1,886 lots in May 2025.
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The CME contract also saw a record daily trading volume on April 2, when 1,600 lots were traded, while 1,404 lots were traded on April 10, now the second-highest daily trading volume on the contract.
Each lot is equivalent to 1 tonne.
The contract’s previous daily trading volume high was 1,353 lots on March 25, 2026.
The CME lithium carbonate contract, which launched in 2023 and is settled based on Fastmarkets’ CIF China, Japan and South Korea (CJK) price assessment, has shown strong growth in trading volumes and open interest since 2024, with record volumes seen through 2025.
“With the recent sustained higher spot prices and market activity, it’s great to see that that volumes are following the price trend,” Callum Perry, market development manager at Fastmarkets, said.
“Amid the growth in ESS [energy storage system] projects and LFP [lithium iron phosphate] adoption in EVs [electric vehicles], the CME futures provide a critical risk management tool for the lithium supply chain amid rising volatility and demand for lithium carbonate,” Perry added.
The near-term CME lithium carbonate contract forward curve has flattened in recent weeks over the April-August portion of the curve, with April settling at $21.00 per kg on April 10, while the May contract settled at $20.45 per kg, showing a soft near-term backwardation.
From August 2026 onward, the forward curve moves into a clearer contango.
Market participants attributed the recent bullish sentiment in the lithium carbonate market to strong expected demand from the Battery Energy Storage System (ESS) sector, recent supply concerns and a broader uplift in sentiment across the base and industrial metals in early 2026.
Fastmarkets’ benchmark battery-grade lithium carbonate price assessments saw sharp gains at the start of the year but have since largely plateaued as spot market activity slowed in the CIF China, Japan and South Korea market.
Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for lithium carbonate 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot prices cif China, Japan & Korea was $20.50-22.50 per kg on Monday April 13, up from $20.00-22.00 per kg in the previous session.
A suite of lithium futures contracts, including lithium hydroxide and spodumene, which all settle based on Fastmarkets’ assessments, are listed on the CME, Singapore Exchange (SGX), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and the London Metal Exchange (LME).
(This report has been reedited after initial publication for style and clarity.)
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