Cathode Active Material & Precursor Manufacturing worked example

Metal Price Sensitivity at 58% exposed purchase share: a worked example in cathode active material & precursor manufacturing

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop exposed purchase share to 58%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Estimate cost exposure from nickel, cobalt, manganese, lithium, or dopant price movement for a CAM or precursor production volume.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Metal-containing material exposure: 100 kg (held at the documented default)
  • Metal price change: 45 $ / kg (held at the documented default)
  • Exposed (un-hedged) purchase share: 58 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 80)
  • Fixed contract or freight cost impact: 250 $ (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Variable metal price exposure = metal-containing material exposure × metal price change × exposed purchase share.
  • Total metal price exposure works out to 2,860 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Effective price exposure per kg works out to 28.6 $ / piece at these inputs.
  • Variable metal price exposure works out to 2,610 $ at these inputs.
  • Fixed contract or freight cost impact works out to 250 $ at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where exposed purchase share sits at 80% and the headline result is 3,850 $, this scenario comes in 25.71% below the baseline at 2,860 $.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to exposed purchase share, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It models a single linear price move on one metal stream and ignores stoichiometric blending across Ni/Co/Mn, payable-metal percentages and timing lags between index settlement and invoicing, so multi-metal NMC baskets must be run per metal and summed.

Results at a glance

  • Total metal price exposure: 2,860 $ (headline result)
  • Effective price exposure per kg: 28.6 $ / piece
  • Variable metal price exposure: 2,610 $
  • Fixed contract or freight cost impact: 250 $

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Metal Price Sensitivity calculator, set exposed purchase share to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.