A second lithium trade has been brokered against the CME Group's cash-settled lithium futures contract, which is settled against Fastmarkets' assessment of the spot price for battery-grade lithium hydroxide in China, Japan and South Korea.
A total of five tonnes of the October contract was traded at $19.75 per kg on Tuesday September 7.
The transaction follows
the first such trade involving the same volume of the June contract at $14.25 on May 3, the day the contract was launched.
The trade comes as renewed optimism for lithium iron phosphate battery in China, persistently tight availability of battery-grade lithium hydroxide, and supply constraints for spodumene concentrate - the key feedstock for lithium production -
continue to inject strength into Asia's seaborne market.
Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of the
lithium hydroxide monohydrate 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, battery grade, spot price, cif China, Japan & Korea was $17.00-18.50 per kg on Thursday September 2, up by $1.00-1.50 per kg (7.6%) from $16.00-17.00 per kg a week earlier. The price has risen by 16.4% since the beginning of the third quarter.