Media Coverage Relevant to AJM, offtake partners and major holders, page-619

To be or not to be ?
Altura is not the only Australian-based spodumene producer to be suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune right now, with global giant, Tianqi transparently unable to meet next week’s repayment on BIG debt it took out with CITIC  bank to buy about a quarter of SQM in May 2018.

Notably it is still (since November 11) advertising a 12 month contract for a payroll coordinator at its’ Kwinana plant [An exciting opportunity has become available for a Payroll Co-ordinator to join our friendly team on a 12 month contract.] but there have been rumours Tianqi may follow Altura into a condition of ‘not being’


Reuters wrote the customers are not fussed either way;
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/lit...anqi-faces-looming-repayment-deadline-2020-11
Lithium buyers dismiss supply concerns as Tianqi faces looming repayment deadline

CONTRIBUTORS
Heekyong Yang Reuters
Tom Daly Reuters
PUBLISHED
NOV 27, 2020 6:16AM EST


Customers of Tianqi Lithium Corp insist they have other suppliers to turn to if the heavily indebted Chinese firm, which is facing an imminent loan repayment deadline, fails to secure the refinancing needed to stave off a default.

The firm currently has a 12.9% share of the global lithium chemical market, says Benchmark Mineral Intelligence analyst George Miller.
That puts it third behind U.S.-based Albemarle Corp ALB.N and SQM SQMA.SN in the group of major global producers that could pick up the slack if Tianqi defaults on deliveries.

Asked if it could ensure supply to customers from December, Tianqi declined to comment outside of exchange filings.

But its clients, which include South Korean battery makers LG Chem 051910.KS and SK Innovation 096770.KS, as well as their compatriot EcoPro BM 247540.KQ and Sweden's Northvolt, are hardly panicking.
"SK Innovation would not likely face any supply issues as the company has signed contracts with other suppliers," a spokesperson said, without providing further details.

Battery materials producer EcoPro BM said while there were "operational issues" at Tianqi's Kwinana plant in Australia - the intended source of lithium hydroxide in their 4-1/2 year contract - the supplier was sending material from China instead.
Tianqi in March postponed commissioning of Kwinana's 24,000 tonne-per-year first phase, citing liquidity problems, after the coronavirus demand shock exacerbated lithium market oversupply that had already sent prices plunging.


LG Chem declined to say if it was receiving supply from Kwinana this year as planned, while Northvolt said its deal with Tianqi, covering 2020-25, is still active and it has a "multi-feed strategy in place for all raw materials".

Even if Tianqi manages to avoid default, Benchmark's Miller still sees its market share slipping to 9% by 2025.
He expects a "significant effort to keep Tianqi afloat" from China, especially as the company is a key player in the strategic lithium-ion battery sector and operates, with Albemarle, the giant Greenbushes lithium mine in Australia.

With surging EV sales in the EU and China and "few near-term supply-side expansions to compensate, we forecast a forthcoming deficit in lithium supply", he said.




Shares of the global lithium chemical markethttps://tmsnrt.rs/3mb80gF




Hard-rock storyhttps://tmsnrt.rs/36b5m4Y



(Reporting by Heekyong Yang, Tom Daly and Johannes Hellstrom; Additional reporting by Min Zhang and Mai Nguyen; Editing by Jan Harvey)