Lithium is a key material in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries used for electric vehicles as well as other products in various industries. Growth in the electric vehicles sector and large-scale battery storage application is driving a significant increase in demand for lithium in its various forms, which include lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. Following the successful launch of lithium hydroxide in 2021, CME Group is now introducing Lithium Carbonate futures to its international client base.

The underlying Fastmarkets assessment tracks the spot price of battery-grade lithium carbonate basis CIF in China, Japan, and South Korea, where most of the industry’s manufacturing capacity is located. With this product, CME Group allows you to hedge your lithium price risk using a centrally cleared financial instrument. With both lithium carbonate and hydroxide available on CME Group, users can now hedge the specific lithium type they need and manage the price differential (the basis) between carbonate and hydroxide.

The contract is cash-settled, which means that this product lets you manage your commodity price risk separately from your physical business. Lithium Carbonate CIF CJK (Fastmarkets) futures can be a cost-efficient hedging tool to protect profit margins and minimize risk.

The Lithium Carbonate CIF CJK (Fastmarkets) futures contract is available for up to 24 months forward, thereby establishing a forward price curve and empowering customers to execute long term hedging strategies.

Market participants seeking a central point of price discovery, price transparency, and risk management use our products. The product should be of interest to miners, battery manufacturers, automakers, and merchant traders. In addition, the product will give financial market participants access to lithium prices without having to manage a physical delivery process.

• Electronically on-screen on the CME Globex platform
• Centrally cleared through CME ClearPort via specialized IDB brokers or directly bilaterally agreed between market participants