Storage-grade LFP — average
57,000CNY/t
A$12,000/t; +5.56% over seven days
Mariana Lithium, 12 August 2026
Power-grade LFP — average
58,000CNY/t
A$12,200/t; +5.45% over seven days
Mariana Lithium, 12 August 2026
Battery-grade lithium carbonate — average
147,000CNY/t
A$30,900/t; +5.00% over seven days
Mariana Lithium, 12 August 2026
The information in Mariana Lithium’s 12 August WeChat bulletin is in the cross-section, not in any single average. Storage-grade LFP — the iron-phosphate cathode powder specified for energy-storage cells — averaged 57,000 CNY/t, about A$12,000/t, up 1,000 CNY on the day and 5.56% over seven days. Power-grade LFP, the higher-rate cousin, averaged 58,000 CNY/t (about A$12,200/t), up 5.45%. A 5–6% week in a cathode powder is a move. It is not, by itself, a market index: the bulletin does not say how the high, low and average are sampled.
Refined lithium moved with it. Battery-grade lithium carbonate (99.5%) averaged 147,000 CNY/t, about A$30,900/t, up 5.00% over seven days. Battery-grade lithium hydroxide, the salt high-nickel cathode prefers, was up about 6%. Six-percent spodumene concentrate CIF China, the mine-gate product Western Australia actually ships, rose 0.98% to US$2,070/t. Hydroxide and carbonate are the chemicals. Spodumene is the rock. This print is tight in the chemicals and in LFP powder. It is not tight at the mine gate.
This briefing keeps those lines, converts the yuan at a late-August 2026 mid-market rate so the scale is readable in Australian dollars, and stops before the averages are treated as an executable offer or as an installed-system price in Western Australia.
Exhibit 1
Seven-day move in the 12 August print
- Lithium hydroxide (coarse)6.25 %
- Lithium hydroxide (micronized)5.97 %
- LFP — storage grade5.56 %
- LFP — power grade5.45 %
- Battery-grade lithium carbonate5 %
- Spodumene 6% CIF China0.98 %
Lithium chemicals and both LFP grades moved together. Spodumene barely moved. That is a refined-lithium print, not a mine-gate print.
How to read a China LFP spot print
Storage-grade and power-grade LFP are different products, 1,000 CNY/t apart on this average (about A$210/t). Storage-grade is the energy-storage line; power-grade is specified for higher-rate use. They moved together this week. Collapsing them into one “China LFP price” throws away the only product distinction the bulletin bothers to make.
The bulletin gives a low, a high, and an average. It does not say how those three numbers are sampled, how many producers they cover, or whether they are offers, deals, or assessments. Read 57,000 CNY/t (about A$12,000/t) as the direction and rough size of the 12 August observation, not as a clearing price.
LFP contains lithium. It does not contain cobalt. Cobalt lines in the same bulletin fell. That is a different metal market, and it is not this page.
Table 1
China LFP and lithium chemicals, 12 August 2026
Lithium iron phosphate (energy-storage grade)
- Average (CNY)
- 57,000
- Average (AUD)
- A$12,000/t
- 7-day change
- 5.56%
- Unit
- CNY/t
Lithium iron phosphate (power grade)
- Average (CNY)
- 58,000
- Average (AUD)
- A$12,200/t
- 7-day change
- 5.45%
- Unit
- CNY/t
Lithium carbonate (99.5% battery grade/domestic)
- Average (CNY)
- 147,000
- Average (AUD)
- A$30,900/t
- 7-day change
- 5%
- Unit
- CNY/t
Lithium hydroxide (56.5% battery-grade coarse particles/domestic)
- Average (CNY)
- 136,000
- Average (AUD)
- A$28,600/t
- 7-day change
- 6.25%
- Unit
- CNY/t
Lithium hydroxide (56.5% battery-grade micronized/domestic)
- Average (CNY)
- 142,000
- Average (AUD)
- A$29,800/t
- 7-day change
- 5.97%
- Unit
- CNY/t
Spodumene concentrate (6%, CIF China)
- Average (CNY)
- 2,070
- Average (AUD)
- —
- 7-day change
- 0.98%
- Unit
- USD/t
| Material | Average (CNY) | Average (AUD) | 7-day change | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lithium iron phosphate (energy-storage grade) | 57,000 | A$12,000/t | 5.56% | CNY/t |
| Lithium iron phosphate (power grade) | 58,000 | A$12,200/t | 5.45% | CNY/t |
| Lithium carbonate (99.5% battery grade/domestic) | 147,000 | A$30,900/t | 5% | CNY/t |
| Lithium hydroxide (56.5% battery-grade coarse particles/domestic) | 136,000 | A$28,600/t | 6.25% | CNY/t |
| Lithium hydroxide (56.5% battery-grade micronized/domestic) | 142,000 | A$29,800/t | 5.97% | CNY/t |
| Spodumene concentrate (6%, CIF China) | 2,070 | — | 0.98% | USD/t |
Source: Mariana Lithium, 2026-08-12. Spot quotations; sampling method not published. Yuan converted at A$0.21 per yuan (about CNY 4.8 to the Australian dollar), mid-market in late August 2026. Historical yuan prices use the same rate so the scale is readable; they are not the Australian-dollar price on the original date. Spodumene is already in US dollars CIF China. Not an executable offer and not an Australian installed-system price.
The same day’s broker note
This bulletin is a one-day China spot print. The SDIC Securities note published the same day is a 2026 supply–demand forecast for lithium carbonate, with a quoted shortfall and an internal discrepancy on storage demand. A tight 2026 balance sheet does not, on its own, explain a one-week cathode move, and a one-week cathode move does not prove the 2026 shortfall.
Source
- Mariana Lithium — Lithium battery material price bulletin, 12 August 2026. Published 12 Aug 2026, accessed 14 Aug 2026.
Chinese-language WeChat bulletin. Sampling method for the high/low/average quotations is not published. Yuan converted at A$0.21 per yuan (about CNY 4.8 to the Australian dollar), mid-market in late August 2026. Historical yuan prices use the same rate so the scale is readable; they are not the Australian-dollar price on the original date.
Related briefing
- SDIC’s 2026 China lithium supply–demand note
Broker note · SDIC Securities
A China powder print is not a WA pack price
The 12 August observation is a China-spot average for cathode powder and lithium salts, not a tradable offer and not a map onto an installed battery in Western Australia. The useful fact is the cross-section: LFP and refined lithium moved; the ore did not.