@UndR8ed Cat - I agree with the thinking that
"Carbonate is not a no-brainer right now" - with NOW being the operative word and
surely mister
@rgrant you are deliberately twisting the words ... which from the transcript are as follows:
"Another good question. I think, putting the philosophy behind where we sit, is the fact that we have disclosed some fairly - in my opinion - aggressive downstream plans. We've got two opportunities here. We've got a perfect opportunity at North American Lithium which we 100% support. It's a no-brainer to go down to downstream to carbonate – it needs to have a funding package which is really supportive of the shareholder base here. These projects are expensive. You've seen the initial capital there at $555M Canadian. Experience tells us that some of these numbers are growth numbers - they can blow out. We want to make sure it does not and that gives us an intrinsic opportunity to partner with someone, particularly at NAL."But then you know that. Nowhere is JB suggesting SYQ should just rush in ... "standing still" NOW is the right thing to do (even ALB & Arcadium have slowed expansion). Who's going to put up the funding package NOW?
And
@UndR8ed Cat what funding package did the US Gov't pull from PLL??? Care to share 'cos thats utter BS (JIMO).
The market is unquestionably oversupplied ... intentionally oversupplied ... at no matter the cost of that supply (since its underwritten by CCP) to produce the outcome we have now. The growth in EVs (as in electric ONLY vehicles ) has slowed outside of China. The fastest growth in NEVs (aka "New Energy Vehicles") has come from PHEVs ... which consume less than 1/3 the Lithium of an EV ... mostly due to their batteries being less than 1/3 the size (mine (Mitsubishi (no Chinese battery either) is 13.8KwH ... so about 1/4 of typical(?) 65Kwh battery). So while transition away from ICE is unstoppable, lithium demand has "slowed" as the market profile has changed - but it is still rapidly growing (at 20%+ p.a.).
Ummm and if the Chinese manipulation is so obvious (as I do too) why does the "average" person get attracted to BYD, GWM, ... and other Chinese EVs ... yes some are great looking cars, with good features, and (maybe/maybe not) well built. The answer is PRICE, PRICE, PRICE. Every Economist knows the Demand Curve principles. CCP gives the Chinese "integrated supply chain" virtually unlimited loss making capability. Their intent is simply to take market share at any price and consumers happily obliging them.
SYA may be facing some difficult decisions if the market stays at "lower for a lot longer"
(20min delay)