Interesting tweet from Joe Lowry.
Albemarle reporting 70% price increases for 2017.
PLS analysts/forum seem dead set on us getting $800USD/t for 2017.
But the 70% increases at Albemarle would support the more aggressive rumours of $1000USD/t for our 2017 shipments (after we clear the backlog - Jan/Feb?).
Seems a few PLS analysts also seem to feel that a strategy of DSO (direct shipment of ore) shipments would incur no pricing disadvantage at all if it wasn't concentrated into spodumene.
They ship 98.6% dirt.
PLS have yet to release pricing details.
They could easily show only a marginal profit for a huge logistical operation.
The mind boggles why a Chinese company that did it's numbers and costed all the additional trucking + shipping + trucking, building a processor like Mt Cattlin and processing the ore that this required wouldn't just rock up to Galaxy and bid up $200-300USD/t higher for our processed high grades spodumene to save the hassle of all that risk, shipping and additional processing.
Says something about the desperation for product that they'd even entertain this idea.
In many ways this DSO strategy from our future competitors is very disappointing.
They're dropping their bundle and turning lithium back into iron ore.
A while back we were talking about the disappointments of GXY not having a carbonate/hydroxide processor.
Now - Mt Cattlin is already a highly refined processor in comparison to these plans to ship so much waste product. No other hard-rock companies in Australia have even reached the stage of mine permitting, let alone claiming that their operations are de-risked.
Somebody has already described DSO as capitulation. I tend to agree with this.
Australia needs more high quality production - not cheerfully hand-balling even greater share of the lithium profits back to China.
KDR have also hit a legal snag. The relevant issue isn't whether this resolves one way or another but that delays are inevitable, and devastating to share holder confidence, and raises the question about how management of these junior companies have rushed into lithium so fast that there is a lot of wreckage and half-completed agreements and jv arrangements.
After the $50m pay out to MIN for lithium, PLS still have a similar issue kicked down the road about their tantalum.
Mt Marion delayed their shipping from October to November but still have no announcement.
We speculated a while back that this was to shine their own shoes when Galaxy announced their delay.
We may even beat them to port at this rate.
Go Galaxy. Get this announcement out!!!
