Battery Cost Index

Providing greater transparency into the cost of key Li-ion cell components

Volatile battery raw material prices, varying battery chemistries and differing manufacturing costs result in cell prices that appear opaque and subjective. This makes it difficult for market participants to budget effectively, anticipate price changes, bring transparency to transactions and effectively track cost changes over time.

The Fastmarkets Battery Cost Index is an easy-to-use cost model for total cell costs, including cost breakdown of active anode material (AAM), cathode active material (CAM), separator, electrolyte, other materials, energy, labor and operational costs across multiple chemistries and geographies. The Fastmarkets Battery Cost Index provides historical costs, changes over time and cell cost forecasts.

Key features of the Battery Cost Index

  • Material and production costs for NMC (111, 532, 622, 811) and LFP
  • Geographical cell cost summaries for China, South Korea, Germany and the United States
  • Cell cost forecasts out to 2033
  • Market-leading Fastmarkets price data to provide real-time CAM costs
  • Written commentary on key drivers impacting cost and cost changes
  • Historic monthly cell costs
Artistic vision of a neon lit battery supply

Our battery cost index breaks down the cost, historical and forecast,
for different cell types and chemistries

We buy cathode material; this is a valuable tool to help us to understand how suppliers cost the cathodes, this can help us to have more informed negotiations.
EV battery procurement, OEM
Read the latest battery raw materials insights

Actionable insights and market intel on the battery materials market and how the cost of raw materials is impacting the cost of electric vehicles

Get the key takeaways from our recent webinar on the global outlook for the battery raw materials (BRM) market in 2025.

Europe’s hopes of an independent battery supply chain are in jeopardy, some market participants said, after a recent spate of company announcements that were widely regarded as bearish for the burgeoning sector.

The price of lithium is falling, but some Western companies have recently announced more investments in the Lithium Triangle – a region of South America comprising parts of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.

The Lithium Triangle, a region of South America comprising Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, has proven potential in lithium production, but each country faces its own specific challenges.

The countries that comprise the Lithium Triangle currently control more than 50% of global lithium resources, with production concentrated in the salt flats regions of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, where there are lithium brine deposits.

Battery recyclers Ecobat, Huayou Cobalt and SungEel HiTech are planning large capacity additions in Europe despite continued industry headwinds, Fastmarkets heard at the GDMMC conference in The Hague on November 25-26.

The re-election of Donald Trump for a second term as US president has created uncertainty about the ability of Chinese carmakers to continue to manufacture and export auto components into Mexico to be fully assembled and then exported to the US.

Unlike most other commodities, cobalt is primarily a by-product – with 60% derived from copper and 38% from nickel – so how will changes in those markets change the picture for cobalt in the coming months following a year of price weakness and oversupply in 2024?

Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers have been reaching upstream to producers, beyond their agreements with their battery manufacturing partners, to secure North American supply for their production, battery materials and technology company Novonix’s chief executive officer Chris Burns told Fastmarkets

More Fastmarkets products to help you

Keep on top of volatility with battery materials news and intel

Trade on market-reflective prices

Access critical short- and long-term forecasts in a new generation of energy markets

Gain a competitive edge in the emerging battery recycling market

Battery raw materials events give you a front-row seat to one of the most dynamic and critical markets in today’s economy

Enable risk management using futures contracts