Image credit: NorthStandard Club


Surge in demand for lithium raises stability concerns


Attention should be given to the potential liquefaction risk and structural stress issues arising from extraordinary growth in spodumene shipments - that’s the advice from John Southam, Loss Prevention Senior Executive, NorthStandard (Greece) and Lee Stenhouse, Managing Director, Roxburgh. The global demand for lithium for use in batteries has led to an increase in shipments of spodumene, a cargo which possess shifting and/or liquefaction risks.


What is spodumene?


Spodumene is a lithium aluminium silicate and is the world’s most abundant commercially viable lithium mineral. Rapid global increase in lithium demand due to the advent of the electric vehicle battery industry has led to the mineral sources of lithium being increasingly developed and exploited, with spodumene being the most important.


The IMSBC Code includes a schedule for spodumene (upgraded) where it is described as an odourless and tasteless off-white to beige sand, containing a mixture of naturally occurring silicates and quartz. It is


categorised as a Group A cargo, which means that this cargo may liquefy if shipped at a moisture content in excess of its transportable moisture limit.


Alternative names declared by shippers include ‘Lithium Mineral Concentrate’, ‘Lithium Alumina Silicate’, ‘Spodumene Concentrate SC6.0’ and ‘Alpha Spodumene’.


Trade routes


There are significant deposits in Australia (which currently has the highest existing annual production), South America and Canada. There is also a growing African export sector (Zimbabwe, Namibia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali), which


116 | ISSUE 107 | MAR 2024 | THE REPORT


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