Lithium miners could see uptick in 2024 after destocking ends

American Lithium

29/12/2023 18:17

(Adds details)
   ** Lithium has seen prices plummet in 2023 amid weak EV sales
and a surplus in the market, which has weighed on miners
        ** Most of the U.S.-listed shares of lithium miners
ended the year in the red, with Albemarle ALB.N falling 33.5%,
Piedmont Lithium PLL.O down ~37%, and American Lithium AMLI.O
dropping 46.5% YTD
  
    ** While prices of the battery metal tumbled, 2023 was
marked by several deals with miners betting on long-term demand
   ** Australian Allkem  AKE.AX  and Livent  LTHM.N  will merge
to create Arcadium Lithium, the third-biggest miner behind ALB
and Chile's SQM  SQMA.SN  
    ** Liberum analysts, per October forecasts, estimate prices
of battery-grade lithium carbonate-equivalent contracts to
average around $34.3/kg in 2024, still seeing the market
oversupplied by 55,000 metric tons next year 
    ** Benchmark lithium carbonate prices to China, Japan, and
South Korea  MB-LI-0029  were at $15.25 per kg on Friday, down
81.2% from a peak of $81 per kg in November 2022 
    ** Morningstar analysts see prices averaging ~$30/kg from
2023 to 2030, with lithium demand more than tripling by 2030
from 2022 on increased EV adoption 
    ** "As destocking ends, we expect prices will stabilize and
rise in 2024" - Morningstar 

  

 (Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru)
 ((Seher.Dareen@thomsonreuters.com;))