LONDON – It’s a tough time to be a lithium producer as the light metal sinks under the weight of excess supply. Lithium hydroxide prices have collapsed by 90% from their 2022 peak and show no signs of recovery.
Multiple producers are now operating at zero or negative margins, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie. Even giants like Albemarle, the world’s largest producer of the battery metal, have been cutting costs and deferring new projects to weather the supply storm. Rio Tinto, however, is undaunted. The global mining house remains “consistent in its belief in the long-term outlook for lithium”.
The company is putting its money where its mouth is, snapping up U.S.-based producer Arcadium for $6.7 billion and partnering with Chilean state entities on two projects. It’s a big call, given the current despondency in the market, but Rio believes demand will be strong enough both to absorb the current excess and pull the market into deficit around the turn of the decade.
For the rest of this article: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/rio-tinto-bets-lithium-will-retain-its-battery-metal-crown-andy-home-2025-06-03/