Yes it's right for most independent spod producers. However I would like to correct one point. GXYs Mt Cattlin operation is still profitable in terms of all production and associated costs attributable to MtC vs assumed sales price. Costs involved with developing Sal De Vida and James Bay are their major drains on cash flow alongside their annual shipping offtake skewed to Q4 as their largest customer only recently brought their converter back online after an upgrade (Yahua) which created a stockpile. They also had a large Argentinian tax bill last quarter. GXY having no debt while cashed up clearly has an advantage in that sense. They also had the advantage of more time to increase productivity. That's not to say GXY isn't under substantial pressure. One other point to consider is Ganfeng has offtake agreements with three WA producers, including MIN which seems to be pushing volume (31% of which is low grade spodumene) to gain market share as a priority over short term spodumene pricing. This would account for the major discrepancy between pricing of Ganfeng partners vs the likes of A40 and in my opinion GXY, both of which appear to have pricing floors at or above US$650pt FOB equivalent. Times will be tough for non integrated spodumene producers for several years in my opinion given the flood of production that came online in the past 12 months. AIMHO
AJM Price at posting:
10.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
