Spodumene mined from Western Australia is a feedstock material used in the production of lithium chemicals that go into batteries for electric vehicles. Most of the spodumene mined in Western Australia is shipped to China, where it is converted in lithium chemicals.
Pilbara Minerals completed its acquisition of Altura Mining on Wednesday January 20. The acquisition has created the largest independent hard rock lithium mining and processing operation in the world. That said, the Altura project will remain on care and maintenance while Pilbara undertakes work to determine its future operating strategy.
Fastmarkets' latest assessment for
spodumene 6% Li2O min, cif China was at $620-700 per tonne on March 31, up by 67.09% from $390-400 per tonne on December 30.
Lithium raw material prices are typically driven by downstream price trends, and market participants have broadly been optimistic about demand in the battery supply chain.
China's domestic battery-grade lithium carbonate price started to post sharp increases early in the fourth quarter of 2020, which accelerated at the beginning of 2021. It came against a backdrop of momentum in the technical-grade lithium carbonate market following a resurgence in demand for lithium iron phosphate batteries, which typically feed on technical-grade material, and strong restocking along the lithium cobalt oxide battery supply chain, which is used in consumer electronics, market participants said.
Fastmarkets assessed the lithium carbonate 99% Li2CO3 min, technical and industrial grade, spot price range exw domestic China at 79,000-81,000 yuan ($12,087-12,393) per tonne on April 15, more than double the 32,000-35,000 yuan per tonne at the start of October.
Similarly, Fastmarkets’ assessment of the
lithium carbonate, 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot price exw domestic China was at 88,000-92,000 yuan per tonne on April 15, also more than double the 37,000-41,000 yuan per tonne recorded on October 1.
The price for battery-grade lithium hydroxide has also jumped since mid-February due to tight supply and an anticipated pick-up in demand for nickel-rich nickel-cobalt-manganese lithium-ion batteries in the second half of this year.
Fastmarkets assessed the
lithium hydroxide monohydrate 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, battery grade, spot price range exw domestic China at 80,000-86,000 yuan per tonne on April 15, up by 90.80% from 41,000-46,000 yuan per tonne at the beginning of this year.
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