PLS chart, page-22967

Lithium stocks across the board got a real good thrashing today. PLS was one of the better ones with only a 4% fall. The short interest has seen a minor decline as well last few days which is great.

Hard to draw anything positive on a day like today but it is still worth thinking about what decline in battery materials do to the ultimate cost of a battery. The $139 per KWH in 2023 made headlines but that is about to go much lower in 2024 with companies like CATL projecting the cell costs to much lower even if the pack costs remain unchanged. This is already having a massive impact on the cost of EVs and BESS units making them more affordable. We shall see EVs in Australia priced under 25K in near term.


In fullness of time all this will lead to increased volumes of lithium chemicals and spodumene and a more mature market with stable low prices- That is the reason PLS, Greenbushes are all pushing ahead with their growth projects. The companies that have high grade deposits, low costs and sunk capital will squeeze out the marginal producers and dominate the market going forward. Any projects with an AISC above US$500 need to have a very good look at their future.