Resumen de Charging up: Lithium market outlook
Industrial Minerals
Regional price trends There are emerging physical benchmarks for lithium, and early exchange interest; Fastmarkets MB has an emerging benchmark with battery-grade spot prices in China that covers spot seaborne prices cif China, Japan and South Korea (CJK), and duty-paid Europe and US prices. Headwinds before tailwinds Given the need for a lot more production capacity in the years and decades ahead, the last thing the market needs is for price dips to lead to cuts in producers’ capital expenditures. The sudden pick-up in interest has caught the financial markets unprepared - many banks have not been active in early-stage financing, with most of the junior miners having to rely on private placings, offtake agreements and more recently joint ventures. [...]as more offtake agreements and long-term contracts are negotiated Fastmarkets IM expects that the industry will demand a benchmark price, with contract prices then settled basis the benchmark plus or minus adjustments for quality, quantity and location.
