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

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, will begin publishing 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 of around 5.5%. 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 market feedback has confirmed that a new CIF China assessment will help capture additional pricing data for cargoes imported from increasingly diverse origins.

The new price assessment will complement 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 CIF China assessment will have the following specifications:

Platts initially proposed the launch on Sept. 4, in a subscriber note available at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/090424-platts-proposes-to-launch-daily-55-lithium-oxide-content-spodumene-cif-china-assessment .

Following market feedback in response to the proposal, Platts will specify Zhenjiang in Jiangsu province as the basis location for the new assessment. Material delivered to other Chinese ports may be normalized to Zhenjiang.

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 will 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 assessments will be published on pages MTL8888 and PMA8888 of Platts Nonferrous Metals Alert, Platts Metals Daily and in the Platts price database under the symbols listed above.

The first monthly average calculations will update on Oct. 31, reflecting the average of daily assessments published throughout October.

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