ASX Today, page-36126

A company the size of ALB usually does not make short term strategic decisions. Strategic plans normally cover a minimum period of 5 years and they incorporate a detailed market analysis of current and future trends. A key component would be a forecast of current & future supply and demand which would underpin their SC6/LCE price forecasts. ALB will have access to detailed market information that is beyond our reach. With this in mind, the current actions of ALB suggest that they do not see the current supply>demand situation changing in the short term. I would suggest that the supply exceeds demand by a greater margin then we realise and that ALB is trying to expedite the rebalancing process by reducing SC6/LCE supply. This is a desperate measure and ALB actions alone will not be sufficient to do the job. Hence I expect other SC6/LCE companies to either put their operations into C&M or reduce their development plans. LTR will be looking at the current situation very carefully and I suspect we will hear from them shortly.