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IS THE REAL LITHIUM PRICE TREND OF 2018?","what-is-the-real-lithium-price-trend-of-2018","article/what-is-the-real-lithium-price-trend-of-2018",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":645,"featured":50,"reporter":646,"_editable":650,"component":651,"seo_title":553,"categories":652,"visibility":661,"author_company":49,"featured_image":662,"seo_description":645,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":667,"formattedArticleDate":668},"123530a4-6bae-49cf-b835-ea3f36982ca4","2019-01-28 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":567},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,580,585,592,597,602,607,614,619,624,631,636],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577],{"text":578,"type":579},"From the previous upward trajectory of 2016 and 2017, it’s been a sobering year for lithium prices.","text",{"type":574,"attrs":581,"content":582},{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":579},"After taking a hit in H1 2018 – or as many within China saw as a return to fairer lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide prices – lithium prices held up in the second half of 2018 despite bank analysts and some commentators alike expecting a continued downward spiral to the $8,000/tonne mark.",{"type":574,"attrs":586,"content":587},{"textAlign":49},[588,590],{"text":589,"type":579},"The second half of last year saw a relative stabilisation of nearly all lithium chemical prices tracked by ",{"text":591,"type":579},"Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.",{"type":574,"attrs":593,"content":594},{"textAlign":49},[595],{"text":596,"type":579},"There have been two distinct trends for lithium carbonate prices in 2018: China and China-linked prices versus the rest of the world.",{"type":574,"attrs":598,"content":599},{"textAlign":49},[600],{"text":601,"type":579},"Lithium carbonate",{"type":574,"attrs":603,"content":604},{"textAlign":49},[605],{"text":606,"type":579},"To explain this trend, take a look at the chart below that maps the highest and lowest assessed prices in China / Asia versus the rest of the world (FOB South America, CIF North America, CIF EU). This shows the spread of prices within these regions.",{"type":574,"attrs":608,"content":609},{"textAlign":49},[610,612],{"text":611,"type":579},"It is clear that the lithium carbonate price decline has been significant in China (see China & Asia in yellow) yet only small decreases have been",{"text":613,"type":579},"experienced in the ROW (see Americas & EU in red). In fact, China’s lithium carbonate prices started the year well above ROW prices and finished below.",{"type":574,"attrs":615,"content":616},{"textAlign":49},[617],{"text":618,"type":579},"Another interesting trend is how China’s lithium carbonate prices have remained relatively stable since August 2018 and how there has been little movement from the $12,000 mark since September.",{"type":574,"attrs":620,"content":621},{"textAlign":49},[622],{"text":623,"type":579},"Lithium hydroxide",{"type":574,"attrs":625,"content":626},{"textAlign":49},[627,629],{"text":628,"type":579},"Benchmark Mineral Intelligence ",{"text":630,"type":579},"assess 4 lithium hydroxide prices each month and the trend with these grades has been similar to that of carbonate.",{"type":574,"attrs":632,"content":633},{"textAlign":49},[634],{"text":635,"type":579},"Most movement has been seen in the China-linked grades, our EXW China and CIF Asia prices.",{"type":574,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639,641,643],{"text":640,"type":579},"The clear downturn in Chinese lithium carbonate price has had a direct impact on the hydroxide it is used to produce. The chart below shows this decrease compared with the rest of the world grades assessed by ",{"text":642,"type":579},"Benchmark Minerals ",{"text":644,"type":579},"– our FOB North America and CIF EU – which had remained stable throughout most of 2018, until a dip began in Q3 2018.","From the previous upward trajectory of 2016 and 2017, it’s been a sobering year for lithium prices. After taking a hit in H1 2018 – or as many within China saw as a return to fairer lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide prices – lithium prices held up in the second half of 2018 despite bank […]",[647],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":648},{"job_title":565,"image":649,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"123530a4-6bae-49cf-b835-ea3f36982ca4\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[653,656,659],{"slug":654,"name":655},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":657,"name":658},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":660,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":663,"name":663,"focus":663,"title":663,"source":663,"filename":664,"copyright":663,"fieldtype":665,"meta_data":666,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/067680daa5/bm-dsc-0202.jpg","asset",{"alt":663,"title":663,"source":663,"copyright":663},"Jan 28, 2019","28th January 2019",[],[],1792773943280]