01 Apr 2024 | 07:17 UTC

Platts changes China Ni-Co black mass quality specification, nickel conversion factor

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, has changed the quality specification of its nickel-cobalt (Ni-Co) black mass DDP China assessments by lowering the minimum content of lithium, cobalt and nickel while specifying a limit for impurities, effective April 1.

The change follows market feedback that, given the varying quality of Ni-Co black mass available in the Chinese spot market, a lower minimum content level for lithium, cobalt and nickel, as well as the introduction of an impurity threshold, better reflected the bulk of the material currently traded in China.

Platts also updated the conversion used to calculate the nickel component value of its Ni-Co black mass DDP China calculated price, moving to a nickel conversion factor of 0.223, from 0.225.

Platts first proposed these changes via a subscriber note published on Feb. 16, 2024: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/021624-platts-proposes-to-change-china-ni-co-black-mass-quality-specification-nickel-conversion-factor

Following feedback, a decision to implement the proposal was published March 4, 2024: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/030424-platts-to-change-china-ni-co-black-mass-quality-specification-nickel-conversion-factor-april-1

The new specifications are as follows:

Assessment Symbols Prior Quality Specification New Quality Specification
Ni-Co black mass DDP China calculated price NBMCD00 Min. Li 4%, Co 10%, Ni 20% Min. Li 3%, Co 5%, Ni 12%; Less than 3% combined Cu, Al, Fe
Ni-Co black mass DDP China lithium payable NBMCA00
Ni-Co black mass DDP China cobalt payable NBMCB00
Ni-Co black mass DDP China nickel payable NBMCC00

The updated formula for the nickel component of the Ni-Co black mass calculated price is as follows:

Prior formula New formula
Calculated nickel component = Ni-Co black mass DDP China nickel payable (NBMCC00) x Platts nickel sulfate DDP China (BATNS04)/nickel metal conversion factor (0.225) x nickel base content (0.2) Calculated nickel component = Ni-Co black mass DDP China nickel payable (NBMCC00) x Platts nickel sulfate DDP China (BATNS04)/nickel metal conversion factor (0.223) x nickel base content (0.12).

Platts black mass assessments are published on Platts Nonferrous Metals Alert, Platts Metals Daily, Platts Connect, Platts Market Center and in the Platts price database under the symbols listed above.

The assessment is included on pages MTL8888 and PMA8888, along with Platts full suite of battery metal assessments.

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

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