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Metal Bulletin has established a dedicated, global team to track the lithium ion battery raw materials supply chain while it evolves and responds to demand from the electric vehicle (EV) sector.
China is the world’s largest consumer of lithium, and is expected to ramp-up consumption in the next few decades, with demand from the EV sector forecast to increase dramatically.
Metal Bulletin will be using its standard price discovery processes to ensure it provides a robust insight into the developing lithium market.
Details of the lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide prices, which will be added to Metal Bulletin’s price book on April 17, are below, and complement our existing coverage of the battery raw materials space.
Metal Bulletin will be publishing prices that have been created and published by Industrial Minerals, a division of Metal Bulletin Group that has been reporting on and pricing the lithium markets for 30 years. Industrial Minerals will continue to publish these battery-grade lithium prices and others relating to technical grades of lithium.
The new lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide prices will complement Metal Bulletin’s existing coverage of the battery raw materials space and will be added to price book on April 17. Price specifications are as follows:
Price: Lithium carbonate min 99.5% Li2CO3 battery grade spot price US$ per kg cif China, Japan & South Korea Delivery port: Main Chinese Japanese & South Korean ports (other ports normalized) Basis: Cost, insurance & freight Price type: Assessment Min lot size: 5 tonnes Quality: Min 99.2-99.5% Li2CO3 (delivery of Min 99.2% Li2CO3 also accepted, qualified for use in battery applications) Form: Powder Publication: Weekly, Thursday by 4pm London
Price: Lithium carbonate min 99.5% Li2CO3 battery grade spot price yuan per tonne, ex works China Origin: China Basis: Ex-works, VAT included Price Type: Assessment Min lot size: 5 tonnes Quality: Min 99.5% Li2CO3 (delivery of Min 99.2% Li2CO3 also accepted, qualified for use in battery applications) Form: Powder Publication: Weekly, Thursday by 4pm London
Price: Lithium hydroxide monohydrate min 56.5% LiOH.H2O battery grade spot price US$ cif China, Japan & South Korea Delivery Port: Main Chinese Japanese & South Korean ports (other ports normalized) Basis: Cost, insurance and freight Price type: Assessment Min lot size: 5 tonnes Quality: Min 56.5% LiOH.H2O (qualified for use in battery applications) Form: Powder Publication: Weekly, Thursday by 4pm London
Price: Lithium hydroxide monohydrate min 56.5% LiOH.H2O battery grade spot price yuan per tonne, ex works China Origin: China Basis: Ex-works VAT Included Price type: Assessment Min lot size: 5 tonnes Quality: Min 56.5% LiOH.H2O (qualified for use in battery applications) Form: Powder Publication: Weekly, Thursday by 4pm London
The price history for the prices listed above will shortly be available in the price book, dating back to November 2017.
Metal Bulletin’s first Battery Materials conference takes place April 18-19 in Shanghai and will examine the mining, processing, transport and supply of nickel, lithium, cobalt, manganese, graphite and copper to the battery industry.
Members of the battery raw materials team recently discussed key factors driving the lithium, nickel and cobalt markets in a web seminar. Catch up with that presentation here.
If you have any queries or feedback concerning the details of the lithium price assessments detailed above, or would like to contribute to the price discovery process, please contact Charlotte Radford, Martim Facada or Jon Mulcahy at: pricing@metalbulletin.com. Please add the subject heading ‘FAO: Charlotte Radford/Martim Facada/Jon Mulcahy, re Lithium’.
Click here to see Metal Bulletin’s lithium pricing methodology and specification document.