Benchmark launches industry-first Lithium Forward Curves

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence is pleased to announce the launch of its Lithium Forward Price Curves, providing the market with a new benchmark for year-ahead lithium price expectations across key battery raw material grades.

The new service, launching next week, will cover forward prices for battery-grade CIF Asia lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide and FOB Australia spodumene concentrate, drawing on aggregated positions from across the battery supply chain, including major lithium producers, traders, cathode manufacturers and OEMs.

Benchmark’s Lithium Forward Price Curves have been developed in response to growing demand from the market for greater visibility into where lithium prices are heading next, at a time of heightened price volatility. With lithium markets continuing to experience sharp price movements and regional dislocations, understanding not only where prices are today, but where the market expects them to move over the coming 12 months, is increasingly important for strategic decision-making.

One of the dominant themes in lithium pricing has been the delta between Chinese domestic and seaborne markets. Benchmark’s Lithium Forward Price Curve will provide unique insight into how market participants expect that relationship to evolve through 2026 and 2027, across both carbonate and hydroxide, while also offering a forward view on spodumene pricing.

The new forward curves address one of the battery materials industry’s key blind spots: forward trajectory. While spot prices and supply-demand fundamentals remain critical, expectations for tomorrow’s prices play an equally important role in shaping contract negotiations, procurement strategies, investment decisions and broader market positioning.

“Lithium is uniquely volatile, even among other tumultuous battery raw materials. 2026 is set to be a particularly dynamic year for this market,” said Adam Megginson, Principal Analyst at Benchmark.

“The market has been calling out for greater transparency on forward expectations, and Benchmark has answered. Our Lithium Forward Price Curves provides subscribers with a unique insight into where the market expects prices to move next, helping participants better negotiate contract terms, strengthen purchasing and sales planning, and benchmark their own internal views against the wider market.”

The Benchmark Lithium Forward Price Curves add a new dimension to Benchmark’s market-leading lithium price offering, complementing its existing spot price assessments and market analysis.

Why it matters:

• Facilitate contract negotiations by incorporating market expectations for year-ahead lithium pricing

• More robust procurement and investment planning through clearer visibility on forward sentiment

• Independent benchmarking of internal price views against aggregated expectations from across the supply chain

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence is the world’s leading price reporting agency and market intelligence provider for the lithium ion battery to electric vehicle supply chain. Our lithium prices are adopted globally, with almost 50% of the EVs manufactured in the ex-China market in 2025 using Benchmark lithium prices in their supply chain contracts.

Benchmark publishes lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, cathode, anode, black mass and rare earths price assessments and market intelligence to the highest IOSCO standards, helping market participants settle contracts, guide investment decisions and navigate an increasingly complex global supply chain.

To learn more about Benchmark's Lithium Service, fill out the form below and one of the team will be in touch: