Lithium miners need billions of dollars in investments in order to expand production and to keep up with demand that’s expected to rise at double-digit rates in coming years, according to conference participants including Anthony Tse, CEO of Perth, Australia-based producer Galaxy Resources.
While the market is slightly oversupplied at the moment, it is expected to remain tight, with demand set to reach one-million tons per year by 2025, from about 325 000 t last year, according to BloombergNEF.
NEW CAPACITY
About $9-billion has to be invested across the lithium mining sector in order to add the 600 000 t of new capacity needed to match demand in coming years, Tse said. The company operates the Mt. Cattlin mine in Australia and is developing a project in Canada and another in Argentina.
“Unless we start seeing meaningful slots of capital and checks being written for the sector, I see it being very hard getting the amount of supply needed to meet demand,” Tse said during a presentation at the conference. “You can build all the EV factories that you want, but if you don’t have any of the raw material, you can’t feed that chain.”
———————————————————————————-
Some of the comments coming from Mining companies and analysts at the Lithium Supply and Markets Conference in Santiago this week.
There are also some comments from analysts in relation to where investment money is ending up at the moment. But investments going to pot,should only be a temporary measure, until reality of this so-called over supplied market kicks in, sentiment starts to turn, and pricing starts to tick back up again.
2019 is another year of lithium market makers and shakers, engaging in their M&A activities. The dust will eventually settle.
