Platts proposes to launch daily 5.5% lithium oxide content spodumene CIF China assessment

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, proposes to publish a daily lithium spodumene concentrate CIF China spot price assessment with lithium oxide content of 5.5%, effective Sept. 23, 2024.

Based on data collected by Platts, trading activity for spodumene has been observed to be shifting toward material with lowered lithium oxide content and mostly concentrating at around 5.5% content levels.

Key production plans for lithium ore announced in recent years have also targeted lower lithium oxide content between 5.0% to 5.5%.

Platts has also observed growing volumes delivered to China on a CIF basis and preliminary market feedback has indicated that a CIF China assessment would help capture additional pricing data from increasingly diverse origins of cargoes being imported into China.

This new price assessment would further complement the Platts global suite of daily lithium price assessments, including its existing FOB Australia lithium spodumene assessment, which specifies a lithium content of 6%, and its daily quality differential, reflecting the value of each 0.1% of lithium oxide for spodumene grade within a 5.5%-6.0% range.

The proposed assessment would reflect the following specifications:

Platts is seeking feedback on typical delivery ports into China and is additionally inviting market information on price differentials for China-delivered spodumene with varying levels of lithium oxide content between 5-6%.

Platts spot price 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.

Market information received before the 4:30 pm Singapore (0830 GMT) timestamp would be considered for the daily lithium spodumene CIF China assessment.

A full description of Platts assessments methodology can be found here: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/plattscontent/_assets/_files/en/our-methodology/methodology-specifications/platts-assessments-methodology-guide.pdf.

The assessment would be published in Platts Metals Daily, Platts Nonferrous Metals Alerts, in the Platts Battery Metals Market Report and in the Platts price database.

Platts invites feedback, comments and questions on this proposal to battery_metals@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com by Sept. 11, 2024.

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.