Originally posted by butcherboy
Not exactly setting the ASX alight, but at least we aren't down (and I hope I haven't spoken too soon!)
I never like it when a company does an applies and oranges comparison. In the first paragraph they say that for the December 2018 quarter production and sales tonnage up 65% and 41% respectively on the September 2018 quarter (which was an absolute shocker of an effort let it be remembered) but then say that sales dollars was down 20% on the December 2017 quarter. Why not also tell us what the sales dollars for the December 2018 quarter was in comparison to the September 2017 quarter? Of course I could look it up - which I did: the sales for both quarters was US$32m - but over time I have concluded that when Orocobre obfuscate like this in their announcements they are often hiding something they think is unpalatable. Not sure that is the case here - we basically already knew that September quarter was a shocker for production and the December quarter was a relative shocker for price - but why chop and change like that in the first place.
I see that the LiOH project is still being negotiated but that the estimate of when it will come into production - second half of calendar 2020 - has not been moved (yet). They say that the FID will be made by the end of March so that's another positive announcement to be expected.
Also, Stage 3 looks to be firming up, but with no indication of when or how big. I think that for whatever reason the extended delay in going ahead with Stage 2 was a real blunder. If they had pushed ahead on the original schedule they would have been up and running during the recent price spike whereas now they are selling their product at about a 30% discount. Hopefully they will not wait until Stage 2 is fully commissioned before they FID stage 3 (FID to full production appears to be at least 24 months).
