SUBSCRIBER NOTE: Platts proposes to launch battery grade cobalt sulfate and lithium spodumene assessments

S&P Global Platts proposes to launch Battery Grade Cobalt Sulfate CIF North Asia and Lithium Spodumene FOB Australia assessments from January 4, 2019.

Platts proposes to launch its Battery Grade Cobalt Sulfate CIF North Asia assessment on a weekly basis, while assessing Lithium Spodumene FOB Australia on a monthly basis.

The proposal to launch these assessments comes on the back of consistent and growing market demand for increased pricing information in the cobalt sulfate and lithium spodumene markets.

The assessments would reflect cobalt sulfate with battery grade quality and lithium spodumene with a 6% lithium oxide content.

All origins of cobalt sulfate and lithium spodumene meeting these specifications would be taken into consideration, but may be normalized back to Platts base standards.

For the Cobalt Sulfate CIF North Asia assessment key importing ports in China, Japan and South Korea would be taken into consideration, while key exporting ports in Western Australia would be taken into consideration for the Lithium Spodumene assessment.

Unit and currency of measurement would be dollars per metric ton.

Platts seeks market feedback on its proposal by Friday, November 30.

In order to assess battery grade cobalt sulfate and lithium spodumene, Platts will collect a wide variety of transactional and market information through a survey of industry participants, which typically includes, but is not limited to, communicating with sources via phone, email, and instant messaging.

Please submit any feedback, comments or questions about this decision to: battery_metals@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com by Friday, November 30.

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.