Metals & Mining Theme, Non-Ferrous

March 24, 2025

Platts launches global suite of daily calculated CAM assessments, expanding battery materials coverage downstream

HIGHLIGHTS

24 new daily calculated CAM assessments reflect LFP, NMC811 and NMC622 chemistries

Assessments reflect EXW China basis as well as CIF Europe and CIF North America freight net-forward values

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, launched a suite of new daily calculated cathode active material (CAM) assessments for China, Europe and North America, effective March 24, in response to market demand for greater transparency.

The new assessments expand downstream into the battery supply chain and complement Platts extensive suite of daily frequency battery materials assessments.

Platts communicated the decision to launch the new assessments in a subscriber note on March 17, available here(opens in a new tab).

Following market research, Platts initial calculated assessments focus on the CAM chemistries that are expected to make up a large portion of the market going forward: lithium iron phosphate (LFP), which currently holds around 43% share of global demand, according to S&P Global Mobility, and NMC622 and NMC811 (nickel-manganese-cobalt), which hold an estimated global demand share of around 18% combined.

The new assessments leverage the Commodity Insights research team's battery cell cost model, factoring in material intensity and proprietary processing cost estimates for the Chinese domestic market. China accounts for approximately 81.3% of global CAM production, according to S&P Global Mobility.

The ex-works China calculations leverage Platts daily spot assessments for lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, cobalt sulfate, nickel sulfate, manganese sulfate and iron ore, and a new weekly technical monoammonium phosphate (TMAP) assessment, launched Feb. 20(opens in a new tab), into the proprietary Platts model for calculation. The freight net-forward CIF assessments for Europe and North America for China-origin material also leverage Platts daily container freight price assessments.

The new calculated LFP CAM assessments and their specifications are as follows:

AssessmentSymbolsIncotermLocationVolume
LFP CAM China Production $/mtNAMAA00, NAMAA03 (MAvg)EXWChina20 mt (one container load)
LFP CAM China Production Yuan/mtNAMAE00, NAMAE03 (MAvg)EXWChina20 mt (one container load)
LFP CAM China Production $/kWhNAMAQ00, NAMAQ03 (MAvg)EXWChina20 mt (one container load)
LFP CAM China Production Yuan/kWhNAMAU00, NAMAU03 (MAvg)EXWChina20 mt (one container load)
LFP CAM Europe Import $/mtNAMAI00, NAMAI03 (MAvg)CIFEurope20 mt (one container load)
LFP CAM Europe Import $/kWhNAMAY00, NAMAY03 (MAvg)CIFEurope20 mt (one container load)
LFP CAM North America Import $/mtNAMAM00, NAMAM03 (MAvg)CIFNorth America20 mt (one container load)
LFP CAM North America Import $/kWhNAMBC00, NAMBC03 (MAvg)CIFNorth America20 mt (one container load)

The new calculated NMC622 CAM assessments and their specifications are as follows:

AssessmentSymbolsIncotermLocationVolume
NMC622 CAM China Production $/mtNAMAC00, NAMAC03 (MAvg)EXWChina20 mt (one container load)
NMC622 CAM China Production Yuan/mtNAMAG00, NAMAG03 (MAvg)EXWChina20 mt (one container load)
NMC622 CAM China Production $/kWhNAMAS00, NAMAS03 (MAvg)EXWChina20 mt (one container load)
NMC622 CAM China Production Yuan/kWhNAMAW00, NAMAW03 (MAvg)EXWChina20 mt (one container load)
NMC622 CAM Europe Import $/mtNAMAK00, NAMAK03 (MAvg)CIFEurope20 mt (one container load)
NMC622 CAM Europe Import $/kWhNAMBA00, NAMBA03 (MAvg)CIFEurope20 mt (one container load)
NMC622 CAM North America Import $/mtNAMAO00, NAMAO03 (MAvg)CIFNorth America20 mt (one container load)
NMC622 CAM North America Import $/kWhNAMBE00, NAMBE03 (MAvg)CIFNorth America20 mt (one container load)

The new calculated NMC811 CAM assessments and their specifications are as follows:

AssessmentSymbolsIncotermLocationVolume
NMC811 CAM China Production $/mtNAMAB00, NAMAB03 (MAvg)EXWChina20 mt (one container load)
NMC811 CAM China Production Yuan/mtNAMAF00, NAMAF03 (MAvg)EXWChina20 mt (one container load)
NMC811 CAM China Production $/kWhNAMAR00, NAMAR03 (MAvg)EXWChina20 mt (one container load)
NMC811 CAM China Production Yuan/kWhNAMAV00, NAMAV03 (MAvg)EXWChina20 mt (one container load)
NMC811 CAM Europe Import $/mtNAMAJ00, NAMAJ03 (MAvg)CIFEurope20 mt (one container load)
NMC811 CAM Europe Import $/kWhNAMAZ00, NAMAZ03 (MAvg)CIFEurope20 mt (one container load)
NMC811 CAM North America Import $/mtNAMAN00, NAMAN03 (MAvg)CIFNorth America20 mt (one container load)
NMC811 CAM North America Import $/kWhNAMBD00, NAMBD03 (MAvg)CIFNorth America20 mt (one container load)

The global suite of CAM calculated assessments follows the Singapore holiday publication schedule, with the daily EXW China assessments published basis a 1630 Singapore timestamp, while the CIF Europe assessments are published basis a 1630 London timestamp, and CIF North America assessments are published basis a 1330 Houston timestamp.

A full description of the Platts assessment methodology can be found here(opens in a new tab).

The calculated CAM assessments are published on Platts Nonferrous Metals Alert pages, Platts Metals Daily, Platts Metals Week, Platts Battery Metals Market Report, and in the Platts price database under the symbols listed above.

The daily assessments are included on pages MTL0550 and PMA0550, while the associated monthly averages are published on MTL0551 and PMA0551. The first monthly averages will be published April 30, reflecting the average of daily assessments published in April.

Please send all comments and questions to battery_metals@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com.

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