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Lithium

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Albermarle has had to fly in specialist workers from China to fix the problems with its lithium production. They will also train the Aussie workers from scratch for chemical processing.

The lithium hydroxide plants of Albemarle and Tianqi/IGO have failed to meet expectations.
 
Lithium was terrible today. Lithium Carbonate futures on GFEX are roughly flat ..., but they were slammed yesterday in response to Pilbara Minerals' (PLS) BMX auction*. Possibly a case of delayed reaction here, but lithium pricing is not looking strong.

Some of today's moves:
Screenshot_20240315-184828_Chrome.jpg*A pre-auction offer for spodumene concentrate with the buyer paying the equivalent of $US1200 a tonne. The online auction for the 5000 tonnes was scheduled for 18 March, but the company said it “received a number of pre-auction offers”. The miner last held an auction at the end of 2022, with a winning bid amounting to $US8575 a tonne
 
Dona Ferentes said:
Lithium was terrible today. Lithium Carbonate futures on GFEX are roughly flat ..., but they were slammed yesterday in response to Pilbara Minerals' (PLS) BMX auction*. Possibly a case of delayed reaction here, but lithium pricing is not looking strong.

Some of today's moves:
View attachment 172813*A pre-auction offer for spodumene concentrate with the buyer paying the equivalent of $US1200 a tonne. The online auction for the 5000 tonnes was scheduled for 18 March, but the company said it “received a number of pre-auction offers”. The miner last held an auction at the end of 2022, with a winning bid amounting to $US8575 a tonne
Click to expand...
It seems like the addition of new mines will lead to further price drops.
 
frugal.rock said:
Not sure that new mines are viable if some existing mines are already being mothballed for now?
PoL at least rising again slowly but surely.


View attachment 173074View attachment 173075

Daily Metal Price: Lithium Price Chart (USD / Kilogram) for the Last Month

Daily Metal Price: Lithium Price Chart (USD / Kilogram) for the Last Month. Chart daily metal price movements in multiple units.
www.dailymetalprice.com
Click to expand...
It is hard to trust most of the data around on Li prices, much of it is sold to offtakes directly to battery manufacturers but the general consensus is that it's the lowest it's been in years. Greenbushes is the golden standard at this stage and it has cut back its production, it can run as low as $450 a tonne but not many others in Australia can come near that. LTR was claiming around $750 a tonne and that was before their finance was pulled. CXO ceased mining production at around $1000 a tonne but their product grade was fairly lower than others. Apparently, LTR is full speed ahead to start production in mid June :eek:.
 
TimeISmoney said:
Click to expand...

Basically why we should be making offtake producers make giga factories here, or tell them to FCK off.
We did that in the 60's and we now have a massive iron ore industry, if we don't do it with Lithium we become everyone's third world bitch.
Australia needs to grow a pair, rather than importing zillions of plebs to drop the labour cost, which will equate to a lifestyle drop, despite what the glee club followers believe.
Jeezuz we are becoming what the unions fought so hard to stop, and now they are the cheer leaders, it does my head in.
 
sptrawler said:
Basically why we should be making offtake producers make giga factories here, or tell them to FCK off.
We did that in the 60's and we now have a massive iron ore industry, if we don't do it with Lithium we become everyone's third world bitch.
Australia needs to grow a pair, rather than importing zillions of plebs to drop the labour cost, which will equate to a lifestyle drop, despite what the glee club followers believe.
Jeezuz we are becoming what the unions fought so hard to stop, and now they are the cheer leaders, it does my head in.
Click to expand...
I think Australia is done for, no company is going to want to set up here.

IR “Deal” An Act Of Economic Vandalism​


Tania Constable, Chief Executive Officer

07 December 2023

Today, the Albanese Government has declared war against the Australian resources sector and weakened Australia’s economy.

By rushing controversial workplace changes through the Senate, the government has dramatically increased the cost of doing business in Australia, costs that will undoubtedly flow through to consumers, in the midst of a cost of living crisis.

This is what the government today wrote into law: higher costs for all.

The government’s Closing Loopholes Bill is a dramatic rewriting of workplace law that captures any business that provides workers, services or skills to another company, roping in millions of Australian workers right across the economy, and ramping up the cost of doing business, and the cost of living.

As confirmed by the National Accounts yesterday, Australia is already teetering on the edge of a recession, as economic growth grinds to a halt. This reckless Bill looms as the tipping point. It is an act of economic vandalism.

This is confirmation that the Albanese Government has no positive plan for securing Australia’s economic future. When your economic plan is centred around paying back the unions for their financial support, it is nothing but a house of cards.

Today’s deal with crossbenchers circumvents proper process and bypasses scrutiny. Pre-election notions of transparency and a better way of doing politics are now dead and buried. This deal represents a complete breach of trust with Australian business and workers.

For the resources states of Western Australia and Queensland, this Bill represents a devastating blow that will reverberate throughout their economies and put a ceiling on growth. It is a sucker punch to regional communities and our vibrant suburbs.

The minerals sector, which boasts an average wage of $151,500 and pays more tax than all other industries combined, has long warned of the consequences of the Closing Loopholes Bill.

By dramatically lifting the cost of doing business in Australia, business will simply look elsewhere, to other nations where opportunities abound and political risk is low.

It will render some mining projects and developments unviable, costing jobs and opportunity. It threatens to bring down the shutters on project extensions and expansions. And while nations clamber for access to critical minerals to build the clean energy technology required for net zero, this weakens Australia’s international competitiveness, pushing customers to other markets.

The Albanese government has never been honest on its true agenda on ‘same job, same pay’. Its election policy was to deal with what it said were the “limited circumstances” in which ‘labour hire’ is misused.

But its legislation does nothing of the sort. It has nothing to do with labour hire and is not about ‘closing loopholes’.

Instead, it allows unions to impose ‘same job, same pay’ not just on labour hire but on every business that employs its own staff and contracts to another business. The concepts of ‘same job’ and ‘same pay’ are so wide that workers doing a different job in a different workplace would be forced to be paid the same as someone else.

At all stages the government has avoided scrutiny and resorted to untruths in order to pass its legislation. It has avoided scrutiny because it knows it cannot make the case for these changes.

Last week’s government amendments in the House of Representatives did nothing to improve ‘same job, same pay’. In fact, they made it worse.

The Government’s amendments in relation to service contractors did not provide an exemption – service contractors are still treated like labour hire and will still be captured by ‘same job, same pay’ unless they can litigate their way out.

The amendments now make a bad situation even worse:

  • Unions can now rope in multiple contractors and even potential future contractors into ‘same job, same pay’ in bulk
  • Businesses must now litigate their own contractors to rope them into ‘same job, same pay’ orders; and
  • The reach of ‘same job, same pay’ has now been extended even further to capture joint venture partners.
The Minerals Council of Australia remains supportive of measures in the bill that simplify compensation for first responders, expand the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency, improve protections for employees subjected to family and domestic violence, and provide clearer rules around small business insolvencies.
Click to expand...
 
I'm keeping track of lithium prices as I made the mistake of not generally following it, and then it tumbled hard.
If or when it starts climbing again, I'll be all over it like meat ants on a carcass.

Screenshot_20240327-201210-773.png

Daily Metal Price: Lithium Price Chart (USD / Kilogram) for the Last Month

Daily Metal Price: Lithium Price Chart (USD / Kilogram) for the Last Month. Chart daily metal price movements in multiple units.
www.dailymetalprice.com

1711531091786.gif
 
Kerry Sun in Market Index last night. Two Bob each way in my opinion but some may find it interesting*

Lithium Carbonate Futures GFEX​

_lithium_carbonate_futures_july-24_GFEX.png

An important candle in the context of the broader lithium carbonate rally​

If you had asked me before today’s session what I thought the probability was of today’s candle/volume combination appearing – I would have said bupkis!

Today’s candle’s range is the largest in over two weeks, and its volume the largest in nearly a month. It indicates elevated motivation from the demand-side in a prevailing environment where I was increasingly believing there was none.

If I’m surprised, I bet market participants are also trying to get their heads around what today’s move means for prices going forward.

I suggest the supply-side might back away in the hope the newly found demand might get them a better deal down the track. The demand-side might feel some urgency to fulfil their requirements.

Basically, it should put a proverbial cat among the pigeons – let’s see how high they fly.

In this regard, we’re approaching several key historical points of supply beginning with 117,350 and extending all the way up to the major point of supply at 125,000.

White candles and or downward pointing shadows in this range would further signal the demand-side’s new-found resolve, and therefore increase the likelihood of a major breakout.

Simply, a close above 125,000 commences a new bull market in lithium carbonate – and I honestly didn’t think I’d have reason to type that last sentence any time soon. But there you go – I just did!

If you asked me before today’s session what I thought the probability was of the lithium carbonate price closing below the key historical point of demand at 105,800 – I would have said it feels like an inevitability. Below that point we’re very much in resumption of the bear market phase, and who’s to say it won’t still feature in the not-too-distant future?

.
 
As China scrambles for Zimbabwe’s lithium, small miners are left behind
Small-scale miners are finding ways to navigate decreased demand and lower prices of the raw materials they supply.
June 12, 2024
Https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/6/12/as-china-scrambles-for-zimbabwes-lithium-small-miners-are-left-behind​
In 2021, an output of 1,200 tonnes of lithium was recorded in the country and it is set to become Zimbabwe’s third biggest mineral export after the gold and platinum group of metals.
China has been striking deals in Zimbabwe, taking advantage of cordial relations with the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.


 
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Meanwhile back in Aust the lithium producers continue to be sold down. PLS, LTM and IGO are plunging lower.

Are we at the bottom yet?
 

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