Platts proposes to launch daily US lithium hydroxide assessment

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, proposes to launch a daily spot price assessment for US lithium hydroxide, effective Sept. 23.

The new DDP US assessment would complement Platts established suite of battery metals assessments in Asia, Europe and the Americas, and follow the addition of the first daily assessment for lithium carbonate in the US in January 2024.

The proposal responds to growing demand from market participants for increased pricing information on battery-grade lithium hydroxide delivered into the US, as the battery supply chain further develops in the region.

North America will see increased domestic supply of battery-grade lithium salts to feed planned domestic battery cathode production capacity, although it is expected to remain largely reliant on imports for some time.

Domestic US supply is forecast to increase to just over 70,000 mt on a lithium carbonate equivalent basis by 2028, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data, while demand is expected to surpass 250,000 mt.

The proposed assessment would reflect the following specifications:

Platts US lithium assessments consider market information reported to Platts and published throughout the day, including firm bids and offers, transactions and indications, as well as any other data deemed relevant to the assessment process.

The proposed assessment would reflect standard battery-grade quality. Indications for other qualities would be considered and normalized to Platts base standard specification, subject to prevailing market differentials.

The new daily assessments would follow the US holiday schedule and would be timestamped to 4:30 pm US ET.

The assessments would be published on Platts Nonferrous Metals Alert pages, Platts Metals Daily and in the Platts price database.

The assessments would be included on pages MTL8888 and PMA8888 alongside Platts full suite of battery metals assessments.

Platts invites feedback, comments and questions on this proposal to battery_metals@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com by Sept. 6.

For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing.

Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.