Battery Cost Index

Providing greater transparency into the cost of key Li-ion cell components

Volatile battery raw material prices, varying battery chemistries and differing manufacturing costs result in cell prices that appear opaque and subjective. This makes it difficult for market participants to budget effectively, anticipate price changes, bring transparency to transactions and effectively track cost changes over time.

The Fastmarkets Battery Cost Index is an easy-to-use cost model for total cell costs, including cost breakdown of active anode material (AAM), cathode active material (CAM), separator, electrolyte, other materials, energy, labor and operational costs across multiple chemistries and geographies. The Fastmarkets Battery Cost Index provides historical costs, changes over time and cell cost forecasts.

Key features of the Battery Cost Index

  • Material and production costs for NMC (111, 532, 622, 811) and LFP
  • Geographical cell cost summaries for China, South Korea, Germany and the United States
  • Cell cost forecasts out to 2033
  • Market-leading Fastmarkets price data to provide real-time CAM costs
  • Written commentary on key drivers impacting cost and cost changes
  • Historic monthly cell costs
Artistic vision of a neon lit battery supply

Our battery cost index breaks down the cost, historical and forecast,
for different cell types and chemistries

We buy cathode material; this is a valuable tool to help us to understand how suppliers cost the cathodes, this can help us to have more informed negotiations.
EV battery procurement, OEM
Read the latest battery raw materials insights

Actionable insights and market intel on the battery materials market and how the cost of raw materials is impacting the cost of electric vehicles

Spot lithium prices in China’s domestic market declined over the week to Thursday June 20, due to ongoing weak spot demand from the sluggish downstream battery sector and bearish sentiment, sources told Fastmarkets

US-headquartered Atlas Lithium decided to expand its investment into Brazilian hard-rock lithium feedstock resources with the acquisition of new exploration permits ahead of scheduled first production from its Neves project in the fourth quarter, the company announced on Monday June 17

Here are the key insights from our conversation with Fastmarkets’ Paul Lusty on the future of the battery raw materials and electric vehicle markets

Chinese authorities are in the process of considering relaxing restrictions on the import of some specifications of black mass to the country, sources said

Aluminium and lithium market participants told Fastmarkets the European Commission’s provisional additional duties on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) are supportive for production but they were not convinced they would be enough to reverse the fortunes of the weakening domestic European auto market

The European Union announced on Wednesday June 12 that it will impose additional tariffs of up to 38.1% on electric vehicles (EVs) imported from China from July 4.

Europe’s nascent synthetic graphite sector faces a double threat with China’s overcapacity persisting and US legislation embracing protectionism at the expense of a level playing field, according to the head of a forthcoming anode material producer in Europe

Read more from senior analyst Andy Farida on how the price action in LME nickel has played out in the first half of 2024

Fastmarkets provide an overview of lithium hydroxide’s recent global performance across key regions and offer insights into what 2024 might hold for battery manufacturers, energy sector analysts and lithium hydroxide buyers.

More Fastmarkets products to help you

Keep on top of volatility with battery materials news and intel

Trade on market-reflective prices

Access critical short- and long-term forecasts in a new generation of energy markets

Gain a competitive edge in the emerging battery recycling market

Battery raw materials events give you a front-row seat to one of the most dynamic and critical markets in today’s economy

Enable risk management using futures contracts