Proposal to change the spodumene minimum price for Li2O (cif China) from 6%

The spodumene market has developed rapidly in recent years and the diversity of supply and consumption has increased. In order to follow these developments, Fastmarkets proposes to change its specifications regarding the lithium content of the spodumene and the minimum tonnage.

Spodumene grades have improved significantly since the introduction of the spodumene spot price in 2017. Spodumene is regularly produced and traded at a grade below 5.7%. Fastmarkets therefore proposes to reduce the minimum lithium oxide grade to 5.0% to better reflect current market dynamics. Despite the decline in grades, the spodumene price is still typically around 6%.

Likewise, trading in small-volume spodumene parcels has become less common, with standard transactions now at around 10,000 tonnes, so Fastmarkets is proposing to increase its minimum volume requirements.

Below you will find the new proposed specifications. The changes are in italics.

MB-LI-0012 Spodumene min. 6% Li2O, spot price, cif China, $/ton
Quality: A buyer-accepted mineral concentrate for conversion to lithium chemicals for battery applications (any size is accepted) and having the following chemical composition: Li2O 6% (min. 5.0 Li2O and max. 6.1% Li2O are permitted if it can be normalized to 6%); Fe2O3 Quantity: at least 3,000 tonnes
Location: cif China
Duration: 90 days
Unit: USD/ton
Release: Daily, 1pm London time

MB-LI-0043 Spodumene min. 6% Li2O, contract price, cif China, $/ton
Quality: A buyer-accepted mineral concentrate for conversion to lithium chemicals for battery applications (any size is accepted) and having the following chemical composition: Li2O 6% (min. 5.0 Li2O and max. 6.1% Li2O are permitted if it can be normalized to 6%); Fe2O3 quantity: at least 5,000 tonnes
Location: cif China
Duration: up to 1 year
Unit: USD/ton
Publication: Monthly, last Wednesday of every month, 3-4pm London time.

These prices are part of the Fastmarkets Industrial Minerals package.

The consultation period for this proposed change will begin on Wednesday 21 August and end on 18 September. The change will then come into force on 20 September, subject to market feedback.

If you would like to provide feedback on this price, or would like to provide pricing information by submitting data on this price, please email Callum Perry at: [email protected]. Please add the subject line “FAO: Callum Perry, re CIF China spodumene prices”.

Please indicate if comments are confidential. Fastmarkets will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.

To view all Fastmarkets pricing methodology and specification documents, go to