Australia's Liontown jumps after first spodumene auction lands well above spot prices

Liontown

20/11/2025 03:07

Nov 20 (Reuters) - Liontown Resources LTR.AX said on Thursday its first online auction for spodumene concentrate from its flagship Kathleen Valley project fetched a price far above prevailing spot levels.

Prices for lithium raw material spodumene have climbed to $1075 a tonne this week, the highest since June 2024, having recovered by almost half from June's four year lows, but still well below late 2022 peaks above $6000.

The auction result is the latest indicator to suggest a long awaited recovery in lithium demand is taking root after the chairman of major Chinese producer Ganfeng Lithium Group Co 002460.SZ forecast demand growth of 30% or up to 40% for the battery metal in 2026 earlier this week, igniting stocks in the sector.

Kathleen Valley produced its first concentrate in July 2024 and runs on about 80% renewable energy. Liontown has offtake agreements with automakers including Tesla TSLA.O and Ford Motor F.N to buy lithium for electric vehicles.

Liontown sold 10,000 metric tons of lithium concentrate for delivery in January 2026 at a price of $1,254 per ton through the German digital commodities platform Metalshub, drawing more than 50 qualified buyers from nine countries.

Shares jumped as much as 9.7% to A$1.608 on Thursday, hitting their highest level since January 5, 2024.

The company plans further such online auctions through 2026 and beyond, though it will not be disclosing details of these routine future auctions, it added.

"Today's outcome demonstrates the market is improving and buyers have confidence to engage competitively when given a fair and open platform," Chief Executive Officer Tony Ottaviano said.

In August, the Australian government invested A$50 million ($32.49 million) in Liontown to support its ramp-up and transition to underground mining at the Kathleen Valley project.

($1 = 1.5389 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Roushni Nair and Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru, Melanie Burton in Melbourne; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)

 ((Roushni.Nair@thomsonreuters.com))