
A transfer pricing framework for lithium © IISD/OECD, 2024. This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0licence (CC-BY 4.0). Nothing in this license shall be construed as a waiver of the privilegesand immunities that the OECD enjoys as an international organisation. This work is published under the responsibility of IISD and the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employedherein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Membercountries of the OECD or the IGF. IISD HEAD OFFICE 111 Lombard AvenueSuite 325Winnipeg, ManitobaCanada R3B 0T4 The names and representation of countries and territories used in thisjoint publication follow the practice of the OECD. This document, as wellas any data and map included herein are without prejudice to the statusof or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of internationalfrontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. IISD.orgX-TWITTER@IISD_news This practice note has been prepared under a program of cooperationbetween the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) Centre for Tax Policy and Administration Secretariat and theIntergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and SustainableDevelopment (IGF) as part of a wider effort to address the challengesdeveloping countries are facing in raising revenue from their miningsectors, particularly on the topic of mineral pricing. It complementsaction by the Platform for Collaboration on Tax and others to producepractice notes on top-priority tax issues facing developing countries. IGF/IISD OTTAWAOFFICE 123 Slater StreetSuite 1001Ottawa, OntarioCanada K1P 5G4 The OECD’s work on this publication was co-funded by the governmentsof Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain,Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.The IGF’s work on this publication was funded by the Government ofthe United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office(FCDO). Its contents are the sole responsibility of the IGF and OECDand do not necessarily reflect the views of the governments funding thepublication or the European Union. IGFMining.orgX-TWITTER@IGFMining ABOUT THE AUTHORS Jaqueline Taquiri, Policy Advisor, Tax and Extractive Industries at IGF Thomas Lassourd, Senior Policy Advisor, Tax and Extractive Industriesat IGF OECD HEAD OFFICE 2, rue André Pascal75775 Paris Cedex 16FranceOECD.orgX-TWITTER@OECD Andrew Viola, Senior Advisor, Transfer Pricing and Extractive Leadat the OECD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank Daniel Jiménez, Alejandro Echeverria,and Martin Sáez from iLiMarkets; the Government of Argentina; andprice-reporting agencies Argus Media, Asian Metals, Benchmark MineralIntelligence, Fastmarkets, Shanghai Metal Market, and S&P GlobalCommodity Insights for their contributions to the research. OECD:https://www.oecd.org/en/about/programmes/beps-in-mining.htmlIGF:www.igfmining.org/financial-benefits/ TABLE OF CONTENTS About This Schedule.........................................................................................................................................................................................1Framework: Using the comparable uncontrolled price method to determine the price ofminerals sold...........................................................................................................................................................................................................1 Application to Lithium................................................................................................................................... 3 Lithium and Market Conditions........................................................................................................................................................... 4Physical Characteristics of Lithium Deposits.................................................................................................................... 4Lithium Production Processes—Conventional routes................................................................................................... 9Lithium Production and Reserves....................................................................................................................................................13Lithium Pricing Fundamentals...........................................................................................................................................................15Components for an Agreement for the Sale of Lithium ...........................................................................................17Determining the Price of Lithium....................................................................................................................................................21Lithium Price Indices........................................................................