Whichever narrative you choose to believe about the supply and demand outlook for lithium, there was something to suit your argument this past week.
If you’re convinced the world’s auto manufacturers will have an insatiable demand for the battery commodity, Ford’s announcement that it would more than double investment in electric vehicles over the next five years would have been music to your ears.
If you’re concerned about an oversupply of lithium coming from the salt lakes of South America, look no further than the royalty settlement struck by Chilean producer SQM, which gave the company permission to more than triple production over the next seven years.
Worried about the growing tide of lithium-rich spodumene rock coming out of Western Australia? Business intelligence firm Roskill declared that too much was coming too quickly and would ensure lithium prices peaked in 2018.
Convinced the recent bull run in Australian lithium stocks is just the start of a long-term growth trend? You would have found vindication in the fact Orocobre was able to raise more than $250 million this week at the stock’s highest ever price.
For the rest of this article: http://www.afr.com/business/mining/expansion-talk-wipes-billions-off-lithium-miners-20180118-h0kqqo