Tianqi has been given the green light to purchase Nutrien’s SQM stake. The price is $65 a share, a decent premium to the current spot of around $58. You will recall that Bitran tried to block this deal on the grounds that the 2 companies would have too high an influence on the lithium market given their combined market share post the deal. By allowing the transaction Chile has sent an important message. They’re looking for investors and to grow production. Bearing in mind the downstream tender they held recently in which Sichuan participated and was successful. If memory serves the total investment from all 4 of the successful bidders was $750m.
Aside from this news I have noted some well regarded ASX day traders have bought into LPI at the recent lows. The probability of LPI achieving a successful outcome in the new code / Codelco dispute has definitely increased with the Tianqi announcement. If there have been short sellers in the mix hopefully we’ll squeeze a few on the way up.
LPI Price at posting:
33.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
