The proposed amendments will see the frequency of the price change from twice weekly to daily, and the publication time move from 3-4pm London time to 1pm London time.
These amendments are being proposed following initial consultations with the market and are based on the volume of data being collected.
This more frequent price assessment mirrors the pricing frequency of the Fastmarkets battery grade lithium hydroxide and carbonate CIF China, Japan and Korea prices, bringing increased transparency to the market, and allowing for more up-to-date comparisons between raw material and chemicals. This move reflects an evolving spodumene market.
This also prompts the proposal to amend the publication time, meaning that spodumene will be published at the same time as the spot lithium hydroxide and carbonate CIF CJK prices.
Fastmarkets constantly reviews the specifications of its lithium prices and is considering a broader review of the specifications for spodumene in the near future.
The proposed new specifications are listed below, with the proposed amendment of price frequency in italics:
MB-LI-0012 Spodumene min 6% Li2O, spot price, 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%
Quantity: minimum 1,000 tonnes
Location: cif China
Timing: 90 days
Unit: USD/tonne
Publication: Daily, 1pm London time
This price is a part of the Fastmarkets industrial minerals package.
The consultation period for the above proposal will start on Tuesday April 2, and end on Monday April 29, with the amended frequency, subject to feedback, taking effect from Wednesday May 1.
All historical data relating to the assessment prior to the amendment will remain available in the pricing section of the Fastmarkets website.
To provide feedback on the spodumene price assessment amendment, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter, please contact Callum Perry and Zihao Li by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading FAO: Callum Perry/Zihao Li re: spodumene price assessment. Please indicate if comments are confidential. Fastmarkets will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.
To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, please go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.
