Allkem’s revenue soars on higher prices, improved production

Lithium miner Allkem Ltd clocked a 34% rise in its third-quarter revenue on Thursday, helped by strong output at its Olaroz facility and higher realized prices as demand for the white metal soars across the world.

High-quality ore production from the Olaroz lithium facility in northern Argentina was up about 40% at 4,102 tonnes for the quarter.

The global producer of lithium received average price of $53,175 per tonne for its lithium carbonate, resulting in record revenue of $159 million at Olaroz.

However, benchmark lithium prices, which rallied six-fold over the two years to November, have started declining lately due to a drop in electric vehicle sales in China that has hurt the metal’s use in lithium-ion batteries.

The ASX-listed miner reported revenue of $315 million for the three months ended March 31, compared with $235 million, a year earlier.

(By Rishav Chatterjee and Nausheen Thusoo; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)