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Note that this is the spot price of lithium, which no large consumer of lithium pays. All the big users of lithium (like Panasonic) buy it based on long term co
by eigenvalue 7y ago
Note that this is the spot price of lithium, which no large consumer of lithium pays. All the big users of lithium (like Panasonic) buy it based on long term contracts with companies like Albemarle (which bought Rockwood Lithium just before the recent boom). Thus it's very misleading to look at spot prices for reaching any determinations about the prospective returns from lithium mine investments.
- duckymcduckface 7y agoFun fact, there is no spot market for lithium. Lithium is sold on a contract by contract basis and there isn't an equivalent of the London Metal Exchange price.
- intrasight 7y agoAny idea why that is?
- rtkwe 7y agoProbably because most uses of lithium are heavily processed and it's not particularly useful or safe in it's raw form, so if you're going to use it you're more likely to need an oxide or something instead of the raw metal.
- duckymcduckface 7y agoPredominantly market size, it was considered a speciality metal and we didn't need nearly as much of it in the past. More on the lines of going to a specialty store than Walmart so you'd either go to a broker to get what you need or buy it directly from a mine if you needed a very large supply.