SMM: recently, foreign media reported that Pilbara, Australia's leading lithium ore producer, plans to significantly increase its spodumene production in the fiscal year from July 2021 to June 2022, spurred by fast-growing demand for lithium concentrate and higher prices.
It is reported that Pilbara will increase its supply of spodumene concentrate to 550000-580000 tons by mid-2022 by increasing production at its second plant in Pilgangoora, Western Australia. In the company's financial results for 2020-21, Pilbara said it expected to produce 460000-510000 tons of spodumene concentrate and ship 440000-490000 tons to customers in 2021-22. In the same period from 2020 to 2021, the output and shipment of lithium concentrate are 282000 dry tons.
In addition, Pilbara's second plant in Ngungaju is expected to produce 180000-200000 dry tons of spodumene concentrate by mid-2022. At present, the factory has not signed an underwriting agreement.
It is reported that Pilbara's second online auction is scheduled to be held in the third week of September after the first online spot auction in July, which sold spodumene concentrate for a record high of $1250 a tonne.
Against the background of Pilbara hinting that the company will adopt a more flexible pricing mechanism in the future, some industry insiders commented that although the new pricing mechanism can more effectively match demand information and reflect the real-time market pricing of spodumene concentrate, it may also cause strong fluctuations in lithium prices and increase pressure on downstream enterprises.
Pilbara said at its second-quarter results meeting that Chinese companies were still speeding up the construction of lithium smelters amid falling lithium and spodumene concentrate prices and the bankruptcy of a number of overseas mines. With the continuous production of these capacity, the demand for spodumene will continue to rise, so spodumene will face a shortage in the future. Huaxi Securities predicts that the tight supply of spodumene concentrate will continue until mid-2022.
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