Lithium: Trading
From opaque contracts to Guangzhou futures
What this tab covers How and where it is bought and sold: who buys and sells, exchanges and benchmarks, contract types, the big trading houses and how prices are discovered.Lithium was long sold on opaque annual contracts between a few producers and chemical buyers. Prices are now set mainly by price-reporting agencies such as Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the USGS source, and Fastmarkets, whose assessments settle cash-settled hydroxide and carbonate futures on CME and SGX. China's Guangzhou Futures Exchange lists physically delivered lithium carbonate futures, now the most liquid price signal. Supply contracts increasingly link spodumene, carbonate and hydroxide to these indices. Market power was once high: four firms held 87% of supply in Tilton and Guzmán's table (pdf p. 180).
Where it is bought (buyers)
- Chinese converters (Ganfeng, Tianqi, Yahua and others) buy spodumene concentrate from Australia, Africa and Brazil
- Cathode and cell makers in China, Korea and Japan buy carbonate and hydroxide on term contracts (Korea took 62.6% and Japan 24.3% of 2024 hydroxide imports by value)
- Indian cell makers (Ola, Agratas, Reliance) currently import cells or cathode material rather than lithium chemicals
Where it is sold (sellers)
- Australian spodumene miners (PLS, Mineral Resources, Greenbushes owners) sell concentrate mainly to China
- Chile (SQM, Albemarle) and Argentina sell carbonate; Chile supplied 75.3% of 2024 carbonate exports by value
- China supplies 80.1% of traded lithium hydroxide (2024 by value)
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX) | Lithium carbonate futures, physically delivered, CNY/t | Most liquid lithium contract; drives Chinese spot |
| CME Group | Lithium hydroxide CIF CJK (Fastmarkets) futures since 2021; lithium carbonate CIF CJK (Fastmarkets) since July 2023; cash-settled | Combined open interest 29,195 lots on 30 Sep 2026 (Fastmarkets) |
| LME | Lithium hydroxide CIF CJK (Fastmarkets), cash-settled | Thinly traded |
| SGX | Cash-settled lithium hydroxide and carbonate contracts | Asian hedging venue |
Contract types
- Multi-year offtakes linked to price-agency indices (Fastmarkets, Benchmark, Platts), often with floors and ceilings
- Spodumene sold on formulas linked to carbonate or hydroxide prices
- Spot tenders in China
- Equity-for-offtake deals between carmakers and miners
Top trading houses
- Trafigura (offtake with EnergyX priced on Fastmarkets, 2026)
- Glencore
- Chinese converters acting as traders
How prices are discovered
- GFEX futures settlement prices
- Fastmarkets, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence and S&P Global Platts assessments
- Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) China spot quotes
- No Indian exchange contract; MCX does not list lithium