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https://www.ft.com/content/872bcfce-7279-11e9-bbfb-5c68069fbd15

Lithium poised for recovery, says Tianqi presidentMarket ‘finally on right track’ after heavy drop, according to China’s top producerLithium is a key raw material used in electric-car batteries © Toby Melville/ReutersShare on Twitter (opens new window)Share on Facebook (opens new window)Share on LinkedIn (opens new window)SaveSave to myFTHenry Sanderson 23 MINUTES AGO Print this page0China’s lithium market is stabilising after a period of plummeting prices, said Vivian Wu, president of Tianqi Lithium, China’s largest producer of the key raw material used in electric-car batteries.Shenzhen-listed shares of Tianqi have dropped by almost 60 per cent since their peak in late 2017. Last month, the company said that profits had sunk by more than 80 per cent in the first quarter from the previous year, reflecting a heavy fall in lithium prices.But Ms Wu, a former English teacher who has spearheaded Tianqi’s rapid international expansion, said that the largest producers of lithium were now displaying greater discipline and forging more long-term contracts, helping the market to “grow in a sustainable way” with less volatility.“The value chain is doing what it takes to return back to normal — a healthy value chain that doesn’t have to rely on subsidy policy or a big jump in prices or a supply shock,” Ms Wu told the Financial Times. “It’s finally starting to go on the right track.”Prices for lithium, which is critical for the batteries that power electric vehicles, doubled over 2016 and 2017, but a surge of supply from mines in Australia as well as cuts to China’s electric-car subsidies sparked a dramatic collapse.The price for lithium carbonate, the most common form used in batteries, has fallen by more than 40 per cent over the past year to about $11,535 a tonne, according to London-based Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.Tianqi has been the world’s most acquisitive global lithium company over the past few years, buying Australia’s largest lithium mine Greenbushes for C$848m in 2013, and last year paying $4.1bn for a 24 per cent stake in Chile‘s SQM.But the deals have left the company struggling with a heavy debt load.Ms Wu said the priority was for Tianqi to raise Rmb7bn ($1bn) through an equity issuance in China and also a listing in Hong Kong at the right moment.“We believe we took an investment that’s beneficial for the shareholders in the long run,” Ms Wu said about the SQM deal. “We did pay a lot. Right now our first priority is to deleverage.”RecommendedThe Future of MotorsportMs Wu said that Tianqi wanted to help SQM, which is controlled by Julio Ponce Lerou, the former son-in-law of Augusto Pinochet, to become an international company and “better understand the Chinese market”.Last month, Tianqi proposed three new members to SQM’s board: two Chileans and one US businessman, Robert Zatta, who previously worked for lithium producer Rockwood.Ms Wu said Tianqi would continue to expand to meet growing demand for electric cars. The company has also backed start-ups working on more powerful and safer lithium metal solid-state batteries, which are currently being tested on drones in China, she said.Tianqi owns a 5 per cent stake in Beijing-based solid-state battery company WeLion and 11 per cent of SolidEnergy, a start-up that was founded by MIT scientist Hu Qichao in 2012. “We are lucky to be in a rapidly growing industry, we want to make the best use of it,” she said.