Ganfeng Lithium and Pilbara Mineral amend offtake agreement as Hyundai Motor Group looks to secure future lithium hydroxide supply volumes. 

Ganfeng Lithium and Pilbara Minerals amended their existing offtake agreement to extend to 2026 and nearly double material volume. Hyundai Motor Group also signs new supply agreements to secure lithium hydroxide supply to end 2027.  

Major Chinese lithium producer Ganfeng Lithium updated its supply agreement with Australian lithium miner Pilbara Minerals which will see the two companies maintaining an offtake through to 2026. The update to the original offtake agreement signed in 2017 sees the volume of spodumene concentrate significantly increase, with 310kt spodumene concentrate being supplied in 2024, an additional 150kt spodumene concentrate compared to the original agreement. In 2025 and 2026, offtake volumes will range between 260-310kt spodumene concentrate, overall increasing the volume of committed production at Pilbara by between 350-450kt spodumene concentrate over a 3 year period. Spodumene concentrate sold under the agreement will be priced at the ‘prevailing’ market price, believed to be an average of multiple price reporting agency prices for spodumene concentrate adjusted for grade.  

The updated supply agreement between Ganfeng Lithium and Pilbara Minerals preceded a newly announced supply agreement between Ganfeng Lithium and Korean automotive producer Hyundai Motor Group, which manufactures the Kia and Hyundai brands. Under the agreement, Ganfeng will supply battery-grade lithium hydroxide to Hyundai Motor Group over the period to December 2027. The volume of lithium hydroxide supplied by Ganfeng Lithium to Hyundai Motor Group is not quantified in the agreement. Hyundai Motor Group also signed a supply agreement with Chinese lithium producer Shenzhen Chengxin Lithium Group (SCLG) in January 2024, in which SCLG will provide an unspecified volume of lithium hydroxide to Hyundai Motor Group over the period to December 2027. SCLG continues to grow its customer base both in China and the international market, with agreements already in place with BYD and CATL in China, along with LG Chem and POSCO Future Materials in South Korea.