Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
The recent flurry of bidding activity for Australian lithium producer Liontown Resources Ltd. reflects broader optimism in the sector, according to one of the country’s top miners of the key electric-vehicle battery metal.
The intense interest in Liontown, which has become an acquisition target after it spurned three bids in five months from the world’s top lithium producer Albemarle Corp., is “a really strong point of evidence” about the outlook, Pilbara Minerals Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Dale Henderson said.
“Full credit to Albemarle who are walking the talk — their CEO has spoke to the necessity for all lithium projects to come online, and here they are voting with their money,” Henderson said in a Bloomberg Television interview broadcast Wednesday. “It just underscores the support for the long-term proposition for lithium.”
The lithium sector is set for further consolidation around longer-term assets, Liontown Chief Executive Officer Tony Ottaviano said in a separate interview, while defending the company’s recent rejection of a multi-billion dollar bid for the business.
“There is a lot of demand for spodumene coming out of China, and then more broadly around the world,” Ottaviano told Bloomberg Television interview Wednesday. With global demand for lithium set to boom, bigger companies that buy longer-term assets will stand to benefit as consolidation starts to emerge, he added.
Liontown in March rejected a A$5.5 billion ($3.7 billion) offer from Albemarle, which is expected to be a key topic of interest at the US miner’s earnings call to shareholders on Thursday in New York. Ottaviano denied local media reports of an ongoing bidding war for his company.
“At the end of the day, there’s a difference of opinion around value and that’s where it sits at the moment,” he said about Albemarle’s offer. “We’ve had no further formal approaches.”
Meanwhile, Pilbara Minerals, one of Australia’s top lithium miners, said earlier this year it will nearly double production by late 2025 to meet soaring demand for the key electric-vehicle battery metal.
The Perth-based miner plans to push ahead with the expansion, despite a recent steep pullback in lithium prices as more supply comes online, Henderson said. The resulting slide in company valuations has helped open the door to potential acquisitions in a sector still dominated by junior and mid-sized players.
“It’s an incredible market and Pilbara looks always to capitalize on that,” he said. “We’re not holding back on our investment.”
(By Sybilla Gross and Haidi Lun)
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