Metals & Mining Theme, Non-Ferrous

March 18, 2024

Platts launches daily natural flake, spherical graphite price assessments March 18

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, has launched daily natural flake graphite and spherical graphite spot price assessments on an FOB China and a CIF Northeast Asia basis, effective March 18.

The launch is in response to industry demand for greater price transparency in the graphite spot market, in view of graphite's importance in electric vehicle batteries. Graphite plays a critical role in the EV supply chain. It is used as the anode in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and comprises about a quarter of a battery's volume.

Global EV sales are forecast to grow 40% to 13.3 million units in 2024, according to S&P Global Mobility, implying greater demand for graphite.

The locational bases of the assessments reflect China's role as the largest producer and exporter of graphite, and that of Japan and South Korea as among the two largest importers globally.

The launch of the graphite assessments will complement Platts' existing suite of daily battery metals and black mass price assessments.

The launch follows a decision published in a subscriber note on March 12.

The new assessments have the following specifications:

Assessment Name Symbol Frequency Quality Volume Dimension Incoterms Location Timing Payment Term Unit of Measurement
Flake Graphite FOB China BATAA00(Monthly averageBATAA03) Daily 94%-95% carbon, -100 mesh size Minimum 20 mt Powder packed in bags FOB Qingdao, China Loading within 30 days LC at sight $/mt
Flake Graphite CIF Northeast Asia BATBA00(MAvg BATBA03) Daily 94%-95% carbon, -100 mesh size Minimum 20 mt Powder packed in bags CIF Northeast Asia normalized to Japan main ports Arriving 15-60 days forward LC at sight $/mt
Spherical Graphite FOB China BATAB00(MAvg BATAB03) Daily 99.95% carbon, 15 microns, uncoated Minimum 20 mt Powder packed in bags FOB Qingdao, China Loading within 30 days LC at sight $/mt
Spherical Graphite CIF Northeast Asia BATBB00(MAvg BATBB03) Daily 99.95% carbon, 15 microns, uncoated Minimum 20 mt Powder packed in bags CIF Northeast Asia normalized to Japan main ports Arriving 15-60 days forward LC at sight $/mt

The first monthly average calculations will be updated at the end of April, reflecting the average of daily assessments published throughout April.

Platts' spot price assessments consider market information reported to Platts and published throughout the day, including firm bids and offers, transactions and indications. Other data deemed relevant to the assessment process may also be normalized to Platts' specifications based on price differentials prevailing in the market. Market information received up to 4:30 pm Singapore (0830 GMT) timestamp will be considered for the daily assessments.

A full description of Platts assessments methodology and data hierarchy can be found here: /content/dam/spglobal/ci/en/documents/platts/en/our-methodology/methodology-specifications/Platts-Assessments-Methodology-Guide.pdf.

Platts first proposed to launch these price assessments Feb. 27, via a subscriber note.

The assessments are published on Platts Connect, Platts Market Center, Platts Metals Daily, Platts Nonferrous Metals Alert and in the Platts price database.

Please send all comments and questions to battery_metals@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com.

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