PRICING NOTICE: Open consultation on IOSCO-audited non-ferrous price assessments, indices

Fastmarkets MB is inviting feedback on its audited non-ferrous price assessments and indices, as part of its annual methodology review, in compliance with IOSCO principles for price reporting agencies (PRAs).

The consultation, which is open until October 31, seeks to ensure that our audited methodologies and price specifications continue to reflect the physical markets for the alumina, aluminium, cobalt, copper, lithium and manganese ore markets they cover while complying with the principles of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) – including all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications and publication frequency.

The prices subject to this annual review are as follows:

Base metals 
Alumina 
Alumina index adjustment to fob Australia index, Brazil, $/tonne
Alumina index, fob Australia, $/tonne 

Aluminium
Aluminium P1020A (MJP) spot premium, cif Japan, $/tonne
Aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dp Rotterdam, $/tonne
Aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dup Rotterdam, $/tonne
Aluminium P1020A premium, US Midwest delivered, cents/pound 

Copper 
Copper grade A cathode premium, cif Shanghai, $/tonne 

Copper concentrates
Copper concentrates TC/RC index, cif Asia Pacific, $/dmtu

Minor metals, ores & alloys 
Cobalt
 
Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb
Cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, cif China, $/lb
Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb 

Manganese ore
Manganese ore 44% Mn, cif Tianjin, $/dmtu
Manganese ore index 37% Mn, cif Tianjin, $/dmtu
Manganese ore index 37% Mn, fob Port Elizabeth, $/dmtu

Industrial minerals 
Lithium
Lithium carbonate min 99.5% Li2CO3, battery grade, spot price cif China, Japan & South Korea, $/kg
Lithium Carbonate min 99.5% Li2CO3, battery grade, spot price ex-works China, CNY/tonne
Lithium Hydroxide Monohydrate min 56.5% LiOH.H2O, battery grade, spot price cif China, Japan & South Korea, $/kg
Lithium Hydroxide Monohydrate min 56.5% LiOH.H2O, battery grade, spot price ex-works China, CNY/tonne

The methodology and product specifications for other Fastmarkets non-ferrous price assessments and indices were covered by the open consultation here

To provide feedback on the annual review of the above-listed prices, please contact pricing@fastmarkets.com. For feedback or comment related to base metals, please add the subject heading ‘FAO: Archie Hunter, re: audited base metals methodologies.’ For feedback or comment related to minor metals, ores & alloys, please add the subject heading ‘FAO: Charlotte Radford, re: audited MOA methodologies.’ For feedback or comment related to industrial minerals, please add the subject heading ‘FAO: Davide Ghilotti, re: audited IM methodology.’

Please specify if your response is confidential. Opinions offered in confidential responses may be referenced, but will not be attributed in any way.

Fastmarkets will publish the outcome of this annual review by November 6, including a summary of the feedback unless marked as confidential. Any proposals to make material changes, discontinue or launch prices will involve a separate market consultation, the length of which will depend on how substantial the change is for the industry.

To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology.

What to read next
The most recent financial results published by base metals mining companies highlight just how inflation is affecting profit margins, with increasing wages, financing costs and input prices all hitting profits, sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday March 28
Century Aluminum is among those selected to start award negotiations for up to $500 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding to build a new aluminium smelter, the company said on Monday March 25
Participants in the copper concentrates market are struggling to comprehend an “unstoppable” decline in treatment and refinement charges (TC/RCs), with every week bringing spot deals at fresh lows and rumors each “crazier” than the last, sources have told Fastmarkets
The US Department of Energy selected five base metals projects to receive more than $900 million in federal investment from its Industrial Demonstration Program (IDP), leading to a reduction of four million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to a statement by the Department on Monday March 25
Aluminium producer and recycler Constellium announced on Tuesday March 12 that the company is moving to test hydrogen utilization at an industrial scale as a power source in its casthouses
Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-ALU-0002 alumina index, fob Australia and its MB-ALU-0010 alumina inferred index, fob Brazil, which were published incorrectly on Monday March 18.