Spodumene Concentrate Prices Drop Sharply, And Further Decline Is Expected

The CIF price of spodumene concentrate considerably declined for the week ending October 26. Post-October negotiations with overseas mines suggested a potential change in some long-term contract pricing methods, pushing spodumene prices downwards. Some Australian mines and mines in other counties are adopting the M+1 pricing method for spodumene. The formula for pricing is: spodumene price= the monthly average SMM battery-grade lithium carbonate price in the month in which spodumene arrives×discount coefficient-processing fees, and then being adjusted for factors like VAT, exchange rate, grade, and recovery rate. With this method, the expected port price for 6% grade spodumene concentrate should be around $1700-1800/mt CIF. While few spodumene deals have been using this method and leading Australian mines resist this pricing change, the weighted average price of long-term contracts and spot deals is expected to decline.