Ann: Winsome to raise up to A$60m to accelerate Canadian projects, page-409

• Could lithium prices be heading towards a rebound?
• Sayona, Piedmont restart production at North American Lithium project
• Green Technology Metals’ drilling intersects thick, high-grade pegmatites

All your lithium news, Friday March 31.

Lithium prices have been in freefall for several weeks now with lithium carbonate chemical prices crashing from US$85,000/t to about US$38,000/t due to increasing global supply and a recent pullback in Chinese demand.

There is likely more room for lithium prices to continue falling in the short-term but some analysts are already forecasting a rebound in the second half of this year, though the lofty peaks that we have seen might be a thing of the past.

Australian miners are clearly feeling at least a little bullish.

Unlike the moves to slash production the last time that lithium prices dived, steps are being taken to increase output.

This is clearly highlighted by Pilbara Minerals (ASXLS) approving earlier this week a plan to ultimately increase production from its Pilgangoora project to about 1Mtpa while Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA) and Piedmont Lithium (ASXLL) have restarted production from their North American Lithium project.

Sayona clearly has the eye on the long-term, with chief executive officer Keith Phillips saying that the project is positioned to be a key contributor to the electric vehicle and battery supply chains in Canada and the US.

After all, Tesla – unlike its Chinese counterparts – has been the recipient of an upbeat forecast by Barclays, which project the EV manufacturer delivering 425,000 vehicles globally in the first quarter of this year, just a little higher than the consensus estimate of 420,000 vehicles.

In the longer-term, Fastmarkets also expects lithium demand from EVs to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 20% to 2.28Mt of lithium carbonate equivalent in 2033, from 321,000t in 2022.

And while China is likely to boost lithium production, the market is expected to remain in deficit until 2026.