View attachment 2196181Ok, so apparently the Li chemicals imported into Japan and Korea (by Panasonic, SKI etc) have been at a relatively flat price for the past 2 years, and they have also been very significant in quantity (reportedly about 120kt LCE total in 2019 for example).....
Yet it is the China spot price that has been thrust in our faces as somehow representative of what Li is “worth”.
Now, why is that, exactly? Easier to find? Reported more readily?
And why exactly has the China spot price dropped so significantly by comparison?
Something to do with quality and supply, no doubt? A lot of “crappy” chemicals flooding the market perhaps, and several “grades” simply lumped together as the “one” product, skewing the numbers and reality...?
Yet cathode/battery companies wanting quality chemicals for quality batteries have been paying good $$ this whole time!!!
There seems to be something to this whole “tier” designation, again emphasised by BMI in another talk today, where it was noted that supply to top tier battery companies is in fact relatively limited. They need quality product and not all Li is equal!
China spot price is seemingly rather detached from “quality product”...?
Far more complex than it appears on the surface!
Would welcome other thoughts and info on this!
Ta.
