Proposal to amend specifications for South Korea black mass payable indicators

After launching the black mass payable indicators on May 17, Fastmarkets has observed that the vast majority of nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) and nickel cobalt aluminium (NCA) battery black mass offered, bid or traded in the CIF South Korean market has lithium content of 3-4%.

Furthermore, payables for NCM/NCA black mass material of more than 6-7% lithium content are prevailing at much higher levels than material in the standard 3-4% range, and as such payables for these higher-lithium-content materials are appearing as outliers in Fastmarkets’ pricing sessions, when they do appear.

As a result, Fastmarkets proposes to change the lithium metal content of the black mass payable indicators to 3-4%.

Fastmarkets has also received feedback that the limit of content for copper — which is typically seen as an impurity within black mass — should be reduced.

The current pricing specifications are:

Assessment: MB-BM-0010 - Black mass, NCM/NCA, payable indicator, nickel, cif South Korea, % payable of LME Nickel Cash Official priceQuality: Nickel and cobalt-rich black mass composed with metal content of 15-30% nickel, 5-20% cobalt, 2-7% lithium, max 6% aluminium, max 5% copper. Minimum total cobalt and nickel content of 20%.Quantity: min one container loadLocation: Cost insurance and freight (CIF) main ports, South Korea. Data points for South Korean domestic trade may be normalized based on information provided by market participants.Unit: % payable of LME Nickel Cash Official pricePayment terms: Letter of creditTiming: 45 daysPublication: Weekly, Wednesdays 6-7pm Singapore time.Notes: Material must be dried and free-flowing. Price based on NCM and NCA electric vehicle (EV) black mass.

Assessment: MB-BM-0011 - Black mass, NCM/NCA, payable indicator, cobalt, cif South Korea, % payable of Fastmarkets’ standard-grade cobalt price (low-end)Quality: Nickel and cobalt-rich black mass composed with metal content of 15-30% nickel, 5-20% cobalt, 2-7% lithium, max 6% aluminium, max 5% copper. Minimum total cobalt and nickel content of 20%.Quantity: min one container loadLocation: Cost insurance and freight (CIF) main ports, South Korea. Data points for South Korean domestic trade may be normalized based on information provided by market participants.Unit: % payable of Fastmarkets’ standard-grade cobalt price (low-end)Payment terms: Letter of creditTiming: 45 daysPublication: Weekly, Wednesdays 6-7pm Singapore time.Notes: Material must be dried and free-flowing. Price based on NCM and NCA electric vehicle (EV) black mass.

The proposed amendments for the lithium and copper percentages in both of the price specifications for the weekly assessments are as follows:

Quality: Nickel and cobalt-rich black mass composed with metal content of 15-30% nickel, 5-20% cobalt, 3-4% lithium, max 6% aluminium, max 2% copper. Minimum total cobalt and nickel content of 20%.

The consultation period for this proposed amendment starts from Friday June 9 and will end on Friday July 7, 2023. The amendment will then take place, subject to market feedback, on Wednesday July 12.

To provide feedback on these prices, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these assessments, please contact Lee Allen by email at: [email protected]. Please add the subject heading: "FAO: Lee Allen re: Asia black mass payable indicators."

To see all Fastmarkets pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology.