PRICING NOTICE: Amendment to spodumene cif China specification, discontinuation of two spodumene prices

After a period of consultation, Fastmarkets will amend the specification of its spodumene cif China price and discontinue its fob Australia and 7-7.5% cif China prices to better reflect emerging norms in the spodumene market that serve the lithium battery-grade chemicals industry.

Fastmarkets will refine the quality of spodumene accepted in the assessment and add a delivery window for its spodumene 5-6% Li20 min, cif China price.

The specification will be as follows (changes in bold):

MB-LI-0012 Spodumene 5-6% Li20 min, cif China, $/tonne
Quality: A mineral concentrate accepted by buyers for conversion in lithium chemicals used in battery applications (any size will be accepted) and with the following chemical composition: Li2O 6% ( min 5.7 Li2O and max 6.1% Li2O accepted if it can be normalized to 6%); Fe2O3 < 1.3% (max 1.5% Fe2O3 accepted if it can be normalized to < 1.3%), H2O <10%
Location: cif China
Timing: 90 days
Unit: USD/kg
Publication: Monthly, last Wednesday of the month, 3-4pm London time

Fastmarkets will discontinue the following spodumene price assessment, which we believe is not reflective of current prevailing industry practices, where most of the trade takes place on cif China basis:

MB-LI-0017 Spodumene 5-6% Li20 min, fob Australia, $/tonne

Fastmarkets will also discontinue the following spodumene price assessment due to limited demand-supply dynamics of the market in question and to focus on its core markets:

MB-LI-0011 Spodumene min 7-7.5% Li2O, cif China

Following the results of this consultation, the above changes will take place on Thursday October 1.

The last spodumene price assessments with the previous methodology will be on September 30.

To provide feedback on these specification amendments or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these prices, please contact the price reporters Dalila Ouerghi or Carrie Shi by email at pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Dalila Ouerghi/Carrie Shi, re: amendments to Spodumene price assessments specifications.”

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

What to read next
Effective March 5, Fastmarkets has removed the synthetic history added to European cartonboard prices and US kraft paper in October 2023, to improve the quality of the dataset.
The demand for GOES grew alongside the rapid expansion of industries such as power transmission, energy storage, AI data centers, and electric vehicle charging stations. China’s steel mills have increased production of GOES in response to growing demand. China’s production of GOES reached 3.37 million tonnes in 2025, up by 14.3% from 2.95 million tonnes […]
This consultation, which starts on March 5 and ends on April 2, seeks to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical ferrous metals markets, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) principles for price reporting agencies (PRAs). This includes all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications and publication […]
Fastmarkets is changing the units of its Mexico non-ferrous scrap price assessments to improve clarity and to align with prevailing commercial practices, per feedback from market participants. The majority of submissions, transactions and references for these markets use kilogram-based prices, particularly across key regions such as Monterrey and Bajío. Converting these assessments to a peso […]
The publication of Fastmarkets’ AG-SYB-0078 Crush Margin China Soy (Brazil) M1 Yuan/mt, AG-SYB-0079 Crush Margin China Soy (US Gulf) M1 Yuan/mt, AG-SYB-0080 Crush Margin Brazil Soy M1 $/mt, AG-SYB-0081 Crush Margin Argentina Soy M1 $/mt and AG-SYB-0082 Crush Margin US Soy M1 c$/bu assessments for March 2, 2026, was delayed because of a system error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ sustainable aviation fuel assessments for March 3, 2026, was delayed until March 4 because of a system/technology error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated to reflect the correct assessment date.