On 22 May, Sigma Lithium announced the loading of its ninth shipment totaling 22,000 tonnes of high-purity "Quintuple Zero Green Lithium" at the Port of Vitoria in Brazil. This shipment of lithium concentrate has been sold to LX International, a subsidiary of LG Group.
According to Sigma Lithium, this batch of products is priced using a "fixed-floating" price formula, with the final price of the shipment being 9% of the lithium hydroxide benchmark price quoted at LME one month after landing (M+1). Through a negotiated "auction-price discovery" process, the company emphasises a premium over the benchmark price. In comparison, the shipping price in April 2024 was equivalent to 8.75% of the quoted lithium hydroxide price at LME.
During last week's quarterly earnings call, CEO Ana Cabral-Gardner stated that Sigma intends to maintain this pricing model to maintain friendly relations with the industry while remaining profitable. "We are not squeezing anyone's profits, but we are capturing what we believe to be our premium in those prices," she said.
Author: Hongqiu Su | Battery Metals Analyst Associate | London Office, Shanghai Metals Market
Email: lilysu@smm.cn
