- Write by:
-
Sunday, February 25, 2024 - 22:48:01
-
142 Visit
-
Print
Pilbara Minerals said on Thursday it saw signs the lithium market was stabilizing as Australia’s top producers reported a slump in earnings and took steps to ride out slowing demand for the raw material of electric vehicle batteries.
Lithium prices have fallen around 70% over the past year as EV sales growth slowed, but capacity expansions by chemicals makers and government support globally bode well for the market longer term, Pilbara Minerals CEO Dale Henderson said.
In the short term, prices of lithium ore spodumene appear to have levelled out, with a small increase in China’s lithium carbonate prices and more customer enquiries over the last eight weeks than in “quite some period”, Henderson told an earnings call.
Top battery maker CATL’s closure of its high cost Jianxiawo lepidolite operations would be a positive sign for the market, he said. Australian lithium stocks gained early this week after Reuters reported speculation about the closure.
“If it is to be true, it signals effectively a swing price… that knocks out lepidolite supply…If there were ever a group that could keep a mine running it would be CATL,” Henderson said. Lepidolite is a lithium mineral that is costly to process.
Pilbara reported a 78% plunge in first-half profits on weak lithium prices and withheld dividends to preserve capital for project investments.
Other major producers in Australia, which supplies around half the world’s sea-borne lithium, doubled down on cost cuts and said they would review the timing of new investments pending market conditions.
Diversified miner Mineral Resources said it may curtail the timing of first production from its Wodgina train 3 concentrator which was due mid year. The build out of a fourth train, still slated for 2026, could be delayed, according to Citi analysts.
“On pricing, MIN thinks it’s close to the bottom here and price will come back after CNY,” said Citi in a note. Mineral Resources reported underlying earnings of A$649 million, down 28% on the same half a year earlier.
Battery minerals producer IGO lodged a 26% profit drop and said timing of a fourth ore processing plant at its Greenbushes mine may be adjusted. It is due to start commissioning in 2027.
IGO owns Greenbushes, which is the world’s largest lithium mine with China’s Tianqi Lithium and Albemarle Corp.
Short Link:
https://www.miningnews.ir/En/News/628050
Canada’s mining industry is pushing for an carveout to the federal government’s proposed increase to capital gains ...
London-based Savannah Resources will if necessary ask Portugal’s government to authorize compulsory land acquisitions ...
India is considering offering incentives to encourage private companies to set up lithium processing facilities, as New ...
London-based Savannah Resources will if necessary ask Portugal’s government to authorize compulsory land acquisitions ...
Australia will spend A$566 million ($373 million) over the coming decade to map out resource deposits with a focus on ...
Equinor on Wednesday said it has entered an agreement with Standard Lithium to acquire a 45% stake in lithium projects ...
China issued draft rules on Wednesday to regulate its lithium battery market, after rapid expansion in the sector hit ...
China’s Ganfeng Lithium Group Co. plans to pay about $408 million to buy out its partner in a lithium mine being ...
The chairman of Chile’s state-run copper giant Codelco said on Monday that he expects to reach a lithium deal with ...
No comments have been posted yet ...