Neato Benchmark Mineral Intelligence said in a recent note price data it collected in December 2020 show increases for lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite, driven largely by the Chinese market.
Prices for lithium carbonate at the factory gate jumped by just under 13%, while ex-works cobalt sulphate and nickel sulphate increased by 3.2% and 6.4% respectively. Graphite (-100, 90-93% C, FOB China) climbed by 13.2%.
Benchmark’s Managing Director, Simon Moores said “for this suite of battery raw materials, China acts as an early warning system for the rest of the world.”
“Historically, price rises that occur in China are usually experienced in the rest of the world three to six months months later.”