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

China’s black mass import rules, effective August 1, may reshape global battery recycling by tightening high-grade material supply and altering trade patterns, benefiting some suppliers while challenging others.

The Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX) has set a daily position limit of 3,000 lots for non-futures firms and individuals on its September lithium carbonate futures contract, effective July 28. The move aims to address sharp price spikes and market volatility, even as oversupply persists.

The Detroit, Michigan-based automotive giant General Motors (GM) and the Carson City, Nevada-based lithium batteries recycler Redwood Materials announced on Wednesday July 16 that they have agreed to build energy storage systems (ESSs) using both new and recycled batteries.

Despite falling prices, three Brazilian lithium plants – owned by Sigma Lithium, Companhia Brasileira de Lítio (CBL) and AMG Lithium – are seeking to expand their operations in the coming years, in order to become more competitive in the global market, Fastmarkets heard during the “Lithium Business Brazil” event held July 8-10 in the state of Minas Gerais.

The government of Finland was ramping-up support for its burgeoning battery materials supply chain through grants for facilities owned by Easpring Finland New Materials and Fortum Battery Recycling, the firms said on Thursday July 10.

In the weeks following confirmation that the cobalt market will face an additional three months of no exports from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), metal prices have consolidated as participants point to the future for bullish sentiment.

Despite the current headwinds, strategic partnerships and continued investment in the right areas, coupled with the underlying strong long-term demand fundamentals, will pave the way for success for lithium producers, according to the participants of the executive panel during the Fastmarkets Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials Conference, which took place from June 23-26 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The US needs well-defined and stable policy around critical minerals, energy transition and trade, while derisking projects and maintaining good relations with other countries to be able to establish sustainable electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage systems (ESS) supply chains in North America, according to industry experts.

The US and Europe must adopt long-term, consistent policies and should learn lessons from China, according to lithium industry experts speaking at Fastmarkets’ Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials Conference in Las Vegas, US, over June 22-25.

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