Price-reporting and market data company Benchmark Mineral Intelligence has launched an index for tracking the price changes of the raw materials in cathodes.

The Lithium-ion Battery Raw Material Price Index displays price changes for blends with both NCM high-nickel and mid-nickel chemistries, and for lithium iron phosphate. It uses IOSCO-accredited lithium, nickel and cobalt prices as well as Benchmark’s in-house collection of data on manganese sulphate and iron phosphate to calculate the weighted average change in the cost of the raw materials in cathodes against a base of 100 in January of 2020. The raw materials of anodes and the costs of refining and processing them are not included.

“The new index will allow users to confidently track the relative change in the cost of critical battery raw materials, set contracts that are accurate to the real-world movements in raw material prices and conduct research on the volatile cost environment of key lithium-ion battery cathode types,” said Benchmark Chief Data Officer Caspar Rawles.

Source: Benchmark Mineral Intelligence