Spodumene Concentrate (SC6, 6% Li₂O Lithium Concentrate)

SC6 lithium concentrate at 6% Li₂O, bought on lithium oxide, iron and moisture and shipped in bulk

Spodumene is the lithium aluminium silicate mined from hard-rock pegmatites, crushed and upgraded by dense-media separation and flotation into a concentrate that lithium converters roast and leach into lithium carbonate or hydroxide. The trade grade is SC6, a concentrate at 6% Li₂O, and lots below it are priced down pro rata to the lithium oxide content; converters also read iron (Fe₂O₃), mica and moisture on the assay, because iron and mica cost them recovery and reagent. The price reference is CIF China: Fastmarkets publishes a spot assessment for spodumene min 6% Li₂O CIF China, which also settles a CME futures contract, and S&P Global Platts launched SPODIX, a CIF China assessment on a 6.0% Li₂O basis, in September 2025. Customs declare spodumene under heading 2530, mineral substances not elsewhere specified, most commonly 2530.90; China added a dedicated national line, 2530.9092, from 1 January 2025. Australia shipped about 1.98 million MT of spodumene concentrate in the first half of 2025, almost 94% of it to China, loaded at Port Hedland for Pilgangoora, at Bunbury for Greenbushes and at Esperance for Mt Marion. Brazil ships from Vitória, Mali's Goulamina concentrate is trucked about 1,000 km to Abidjan, and Québec's North American Lithium mine near Val-d'Or produces concentrate for export.

The buyer is a lithium converter or chemical plant, a cathode group with its own refinery, or a trader with converter offtake, and the offer is a price per dry metric tonne at a stated Li₂O basis with a pro-rata or table adjustment. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers spodumene concentrate from producers and trader allocations outside the majors' term offtake, against an SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek or Alfred H Knight assay of Li₂O, Fe₂O₃ and moisture with umpire terms, a certificate of origin and the origin's export permit. Origin rules decide what can move: Zimbabwe has banned exports of unprocessed lithium ore since December 2022, suspended raw mineral and lithium concentrate exports in February 2026 and now allows concentrate only under Ministry quotas and an export tax until a full concentrate ban set for 1 January 2027; Nigeria bars export of raw lithium ore and requires processing in-country. Concentrate moves in bulk in Supramax and Handysize lots, or in bags in containers for smaller parcels, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms, and the freight leg is worked alongside the cargo. Send the Li₂O grade, iron limit, tonnage, shipment window and discharge port, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.