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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":731,"relatedVideos":732},112471925283733,"f72601b0-8e46-4872-8d6a-1c212e64efc0","The lithium lag: why battery costs won’t fall immediately","the-lithium-lag-why-battery-costs-wont-fall-immediately","article/the-lithium-lag-why-battery-costs-wont-fall-immediately",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":553,"content":563,"excerpt":711,"featured":51,"reporter":712,"_editable":716,"component":717,"seo_title":543,"categories":718,"visibility":724,"author_company":49,"featured_image":725,"seo_description":711,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":729,"formattedArticleDate":730},"8b3e4912-b364-4f9e-aa81-66799df20eb4","2023-01-25 00:00",[550],{"slug":551,"name":552},"lithium-prices","Lithium prices",[554],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":557},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":558,"image":559,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":560},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":564,"content":565},"doc",[566,583,596,601,606,618,623,632,639,644,649,654,659,664,669,674,679,684,689,694,701,706],{"type":567,"attrs":568,"content":569},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[570,573,581],{"text":571,"type":572},"Prices for ","text",{"text":574,"type":572,"marks":575},"lithium chemicals",[576],{"type":577,"attrs":578},"link",{"href":579,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/video/watch/analyst-insights-what-is-happening-in-the-lithium-market","url",{"text":582,"type":572}," in the Chinese market have fallen this year following a record-breaking 700% increase over the past two years – yet this doesn’t mean battery prices will immediately start to see the benefit. ",{"type":567,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586,588,594],{"text":587,"type":572},"Only a fraction of the global supply of lithium is sold on China’s ",{"text":589,"type":572,"marks":590},"spot market",[591],{"type":577,"attrs":592},{"href":593,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/whats-going-on-with-lithium-prices",{"text":595,"type":572},", where buyers agree to pay a price for immediate delivery of material. ",{"type":567,"attrs":597,"content":598},{"textAlign":49},[599],{"text":600,"type":572},"The majority is sold as part of multi-year contracts between lithium producers and buyers such as cathode producers, battery producers, or automotive companies. These contracts have pricing mechanisms that lag behind the Chinese spot market – sometimes by months. ",{"type":567,"attrs":602,"content":603},{"textAlign":49},[604],{"text":605,"type":572},"As a result, that means that the prices consumers in the electric vehicle supply chain are actually paying today may still increase at the beginning of this year, maintaining the pressure on battery costs. ",{"type":567,"attrs":607,"content":608},{"textAlign":49},[609,611,616],{"text":610,"type":572},"“There’s still a lot of climbing for ",{"text":612,"type":572,"marks":613},"those prices",[614],{"type":577,"attrs":615},{"href":593,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},{"text":617,"type":572}," to catch-up with or work towards what we’ve seen in the Chinese market,” Daisy Jennings-Gray, an analyst at Benchmark, said. “We haven’t reached the peak for the average tonne of lithium.”",{"type":567,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"textAlign":49},[621],{"text":622,"type":572},"Prices for lithium hydroxide sold through contracts to consumers in Asia outside of China are currently around $72,000 a tonne, compared to $81,500 a tonne for spot market material in the region, according to Benchmark.",{"type":567,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626],{"type":627,"attrs":628},"image",{"id":49,"alt":629,"src":630,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":631},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/52abbf0b6a/bm-lithium-hydroxide-contract-prices-still-lag-spot-prices-in-asia.png",{},{"type":633,"attrs":634,"content":636},"heading",{"level":635,"textAlign":49},4,[637],{"text":638,"type":572},"Albemarle aims to cut fixed-price deals",{"type":567,"attrs":640,"content":641},{"textAlign":49},[642],{"text":643,"type":572},"The world’s largest lithium producer, Albemarle, said this week that around 20% of its lithium was sold on the spot market last year. The majority, around 60%, is sold as part of long-term contracts referenced to index prices on a three month lag. ",{"type":567,"attrs":645,"content":646},{"textAlign":49},[647],{"text":648,"type":572},"It aims to increase that proportion sold on lagged market prices to between 75% to 80% this year, as it renegotiates fixed-price contracts to follow market pricing. ",{"type":567,"attrs":650,"content":651},{"textAlign":49},[652],{"text":653,"type":572},"In addition, Albemarle said it would move all of its fixed-price contracts to variable-price ones this year, meaning those consumers, whether battery producers or cathode producers, would face higher prices. ",{"type":567,"attrs":655,"content":656},{"textAlign":49},[657],{"text":658,"type":572},"Overall, the company said it expects the prices it receives for its lithium to rise by 40% this year compared to 2022. ",{"type":633,"attrs":660,"content":661},{"level":635,"textAlign":49},[662],{"text":663,"type":572},"The spodumene lag ",{"type":567,"attrs":665,"content":666},{"textAlign":49},[667],{"text":668,"type":572},"In addition, the same lag applies to the prices for spodumene feedstock from Australia, which is processed in China into lithium chemicals. ",{"type":567,"attrs":670,"content":671},{"textAlign":49},[672],{"text":673,"type":572},"Prices for spodumene have still remained high this year, despite falling Chinese lithium chemical prices. ",{"type":567,"attrs":675,"content":676},{"textAlign":49},[677],{"text":678,"type":572},"The latest price assessment by Benchmark puts spodumene at $6,000 per tonne. This is almost four times the price from this time last year, and over fifteen times the price from two years ago.",{"type":567,"attrs":680,"content":681},{"textAlign":49},[682],{"text":683,"type":572},"The peak year-on-year increase came at the end of June last year, where an increase of nearly 730% compared to the same time in 2021 was seen. Chinese battery grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide prices had peak year-on-year changes approximately three months prior to this.",{"type":567,"attrs":685,"content":686},{"textAlign":49},[687],{"text":688,"type":572},"With the exception of auctions held by Pilbara Minerals on their own online platform there is very little spodumene available on a spot market basis. ",{"type":567,"attrs":690,"content":691},{"textAlign":49},[692],{"text":693,"type":572},"Pilbara’s auction price is also consistently higher than spodumene contract prices as assessed by Benchmark. ",{"type":567,"attrs":695,"content":696},{"textAlign":49},[697],{"type":627,"attrs":698},{"id":49,"alt":629,"src":699,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":700},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/b1b79e53bb/bm-spodunene-vs-spot-prices.png",{},{"type":567,"attrs":702,"content":703},{"textAlign":49},[704],{"text":705,"type":572},"While spodumene prices are still increasing in response to price rises in the lithium chemicals market in the second half of last year, the delay squeezes margins for Chinese converters, who may sell some material on the Chinese spot market, according to Jennings-Gray. ",{"type":567,"attrs":707,"content":708},{"textAlign":49},[709],{"text":710,"type":572},"“Because spot chemical prices are falling and feedstock contract prices are still going up the margins of converters are going to start being squeezed for a few months until spodumene contract prices start to come back down, or if chemical prices rise again,” she said.","Prices for lithium chemicals in the Chinese market have fallen this year following a record-breaking 700% increase over the past two years – yet this doesn’t mean battery prices will immediately start to see the benefit. Only a fraction of the global supply of lithium is sold on China’s spot market, where buyers agree to […]",[713],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":714},{"job_title":558,"image":715,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},{"filename":560},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"8b3e4912-b364-4f9e-aa81-66799df20eb4\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[719,722],{"slug":720,"name":721},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":723,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":629,"name":629,"focus":629,"title":629,"source":629,"filename":726,"copyright":629,"fieldtype":727,"meta_data":728,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/fdb9f4e116/bm-battery-pack-image.jpg","asset",{"alt":629,"title":629,"source":629,"copyright":629},"Jan 25, 2023","25th January 2023",[],[],1780500972763]