The Future of Lithium Trading: Transparency, Efficiency, and Trust

Knowing the true price of lithium has never been more important. As global demand surges, fueled by electric vehicles and energy storage, the need for tens of billions in new investment grows. Yet many potential investors and supply chain stakeholders hesitate because of one persistent issue: a lack of price transparency.

Despite its role as a critical mineral, lithium is still traded through bilateral deals with little visibility into pricing. Without reliable benchmarks, long-term contracts are difficult to structure, and spot market transactions remain fragmented.

On a recent episode of the Global Lithium Podcast with Joe Lowry, Dr Frank Jackel, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Metalshub, offered a clear-eyed perspective on how digitalisation can address these challenges and usher in a new era of efficiency, trust, and transparency for lithium and other battery raw materials.

For decades, lithium was traded in low volumes as a speciality chemical. Pricing was often negotiated privately and bilaterally, shrouded in confidentiality, and varied widely based on end-use applications. “One of the biggest issues facing the growth of the lithium industry is the opacity of price,” said Joe Lowry. “It’s been a problem since I entered the industry. People have never liked the fact that unlike other metals they might be involved with, it was very hard to know what the lithium price was, is or will be.”

However, lithium’s rapid rise as a core component of clean energy solutions requires a different approach. Today, lithium has effectively entered the realm of commodities, necessitating transparency and clarity that speciality chemicals often lack.

“People don’t like to hear it, but lithium has become almost a commodity,” Dr Jackel said. “The more you use it, the more standards you have. It’s being commoditised, and the pricing of commodities is completely different to that of a speciality chemical.”

A mature commodity market requires liquidity, standardised products, and reliable price signals. The lithium market still lags behind in these areas. “Even five or ten years ago, there was no reliable index,” Jackel pointed out. “You might ask whether today’s indices are reliable. But what we do is help companies run bidding events for price discovery.”

On the Metalshub platform, suppliers can initiate competitive tenders for lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and spodumene, inviting multiple buyers to bid. This process not only ensures better pricing for sellers but also increases transparency for the market as a whole.

The lithium industry’s traditional methods of raw material trading, including emails, spreadsheets, and phone negotiations, are no longer fit for purpose. Manual processes limit transaction speed, compromise compliance, and pose significant risks to data accuracy, all of which are necessary aspects of a modern, high-volume supply chain.

“Auctions, tenders, and bidding events are standard in many other industries because they offer an efficient process for price discovery,” Jackel noted. “There’s no reason lithium should be any different.”

Metalshub’s digital platform replaces these fragmented, manual interactions with structured, transparent processes. Offering various transaction modes like auctions and private negotiations, the platform enables buyers and sellers to efficiently manage everything from initial tender to final contract. Legal and commercial terms are standardised yet customisable, streamlining execution and significantly reducing dispute risks. The result is a more reliable, efficient, and compliant trading environment well-suited to the needs of the evolving lithium market. 

That is why industry leaders like Albemarle and SQM have opted to join Metalshub and leverage its digital solutions, resulting in a growing intrigue and a new dynamic in the industry. “You’ve already got the two most significant suppliers to the battery space as clients, and, as such, you have a large percentage of interested buyers involved,” added Lowry. This underscores the significance of this shift: as more suppliers and buyers are involved, the industry can finally begin to effectively tackle the longstanding “opacity of price” issue and pave the way for lithium to become a commodity.

Trust is critical in any volatile market, and lithium is no exception, especially when buyers face uncertainties around delivered product quality versus promised specifications. Metalshub addresses this through rigorous onboarding and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) processes and a transparent public rating system where buyers and sellers publicly rate each other based on metrics like quality, reliability, and communication.

“Buyers rate suppliers on quality, delivery, and communication, and those ratings are visible to the entire market,” Jackel explained. “It creates accountability and helps companies prove their reputation through verified performance.”

This peer feedback loop not only rewards reliable suppliers but also deters underperformance. Companies with persistent quality issues risk losing visibility or being removed from the platform altogether. Such transparency motivates suppliers to consistently maintain high standards and provides buyers with essential confidence in their trading relationships.

China remains the dominant player in lithium conversion and consumption, but the global landscape is shifting. While Chinese companies actively participate on the Metalshub platform, the company’s independence and data privacy compliance offer an alternative that appeals to Western producers and buyers.

“Western companies are very much interested in data privacy and compliance,” Jackel said. “Being located in the European Union, we have to adhere to all the competition laws and anti-collusion rules. We provide a level of trust that no data is leaked: we don’t share data with third parties unless the data owner allows us to do so.”

In other words, Metalshub offers neutrality, stringent data privacy standards, and an independent trading platform that appeals strongly to Western companies wary of geopolitical tensions and potential data security risks. This reinforces Metalshub’s role as a trusted partner in navigating an increasingly complex global lithium market.

Over the next five to ten years, a growing share of the lithium spot market is expected to trade on digital platforms. “In the long run, I think the majority of the spot market will be traded on platforms, whether it’s Metalshub or another,” Jackel said. “A mature market means having a liquid spot market that sets prices for long-term contracts.” 

This represents the liquidity imperative: Liquidity is fundamental for price transparency to genuinely improve. A liquid spot market establishes essential reference points that buyers and sellers can trust, fostering greater market confidence and attracting investment. Through competitive and transparent bidding, fair pricing emerges, significantly reducing the risk of market manipulation.

Today, many producers still prefer to lock in 100% of their volumes in long-term agreements driven by financing needs. However, that can be quite risky as this would essentially leave them blind to market dynamics. Instead, participating in a transparent, liquid spot market offers long-term benefits for both parties. 

“You learn from being active in the spot market what the market thinks,” Jackel added. Ideally, a healthy balance would include around 60–70% of lithium volumes secured in long-term contracts, while the remaining 30–40% would be traded actively on the spot market. This balanced approach would provide the stability needed for long-term planning alongside flexibility to respond to market shifts, which are crucial for sustained industry growth and investor confidence.

As part of the digitalisation of the lithium industry, new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) promise significant opportunities beyond merely facilitating transactions. Metalshub is exploring how AI can analyse vast datasets generated by digital platforms to uncover hidden market trends and deliver strategic insights. “We’re building AI that allows people to submit quotes not only through the platform but also by email,” said Jackel. “The AI reads it into the system, making data input seamless.”

The platform also leverages AI to analyse large volumes of data, uncovering insights that human users might otherwise miss. “This is the biggest benefit of digitalisation,” Jackel emphasised. “You suddenly have structured data and vast amounts of it. Making that data available for analysis creates an unimaginable commercial advantage.”

This transforms the role of digital platforms like Metalshub from transaction facilitators into critical strategic partners. With AI-driven insights, companies can make informed, agile decisions in a market that is evolving faster than we think.

Listen to the full conversation on the Global Lithium Podcast with Joe Lowry.