<article><p class="lead">The Singapore Exchange (SGX) will launch four battery metal futures contracts next week, allowing companies to hedge against raw material price volatility in view of a rapidly growing electric vehicle (EV) market. </p><p>SGX will launch futures contracts for cobalt metal, cobalt hydroxide, lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide on 26 September. </p><p>The contract size is 1t and will cover up to 36 months and 24 months respectively for cobalt and lithium products. The final settlement price will be an arithmetic average of daily prices in the expiring contract month. </p><p><i>Argus</i> forecasts that global EV sales will reach 31mn units by 2032 on the back of strong Chinese and European performance, up from 6.23mn last year, according to China Passenger Car Association data. The forecast EV growth is likely to boost long-term demand for and trading of power batteries and battery metals such as cobalt, lithium, nickel, manganese and graphite. </p><p><i>Argus</i> last assessed the cobalt hydroxide (30pc min Co) payable indicator cif China at 59.5-61.5pc at the low end of the <i>Argus</i> European chemical-grade cobalt metal price on 21 September, unchanged from 16 September. Prices for 56.5pc grade lithium hydroxide were assessed at $78-79/kg fob China on 20 September.</p><p class="bylines">By ZhiChao Zhang</p></article>
