Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: Ice) today announced the launch of the first contracts based on battery materials, expanding energy and environmental markets – which represent the most wetter markets for the exchange of these products – to critical minerals.
Ice has launched four cash battery contracts covering lithium hydroxide, carbonate, cobalt and Spodumene Futures based on fastmarkets pricing estimates.
“Our customers manage their way through increased geopolitical risk, the evolving trade environment of trade around critical minerals as well as the wider energy market,” said Jeff Barbuto, a world leader of ICE oil markets. “These contracts are significant new additions to our energy derivatives and we look forward to working with the battery material industry to find ways to add value to this space and build liquidity alongside the wider trading and liquidation platform.”
“The battery raw material industry is based on reliable FastMarkets reference points as trade and investment actuators,” said Przemek Koralewski, a worldwide leadership head of the market in Fastmarkets. “Cooperation with Ice further supports this growing market with the risk management tools it needs.”
The new battery contracts are involved in the Ice Network over 800 raw and sophisticated oil -backed oil products, the price barometer for three -quarters of the internationally negotiable crude oil and the Ice Low Sulphur Gasoil in the world -reference. Gasoil’s contracts and options reached open interest (OI) 1.43 million contracts on May 29, 2025, increased by 29% annually (y/y). Gasoil options hit a record of 22,650 contracts on May 20, 2025, surpassing the previous record in May 2016.
Global ICE oil reference indicators hit a successive record in May 2025 with Ice Brent futures reaching a 2.9 million record in OI and Ice WTi (Cushing) Future and options reaching 1.7 million on May 8th, 2025, with Ice 23. 2025, an increase of 8% years, including a record of 41.8 million of future merchandise and a record of 40 million energy contracts.