Mineral Resources and Albemarle sell lithium at a sizeable premium, setting the stage for market shakeup

Mineral Resources and Albemarle have sold spodumene for more than 10 per cent above the commodity’s spot price, boosting the hopes of a market revival for WA’s embattled lithium miners. Several sources have told The West Australian an auction conducted by Albemarle late on Tuesday resulted in a sales price of $US1195 ($1830) a tonne, excluding taxes, for export to China on a 6 per cent spodumene concentrate basis, versus the equivalent spot price of about $US1075/t at the time. Albemarle, which is the world’s largest lithium producer, is yet to confirm the sale details. It is understood 10,000 tonnes of spodumene ore was sold in the auction and delivery of the product to China is expected next month. The auction is the first of its kind for Albemarle. Meanwhile, MinRes Lithium chief executive Joshua Thurlow on Wednesday told The West Australian the company recently sold spodumene concentrate at US$1300 a tonne. “It’s clear the market is waking up to the future demand for lithium that is required for the global energy transition as long-awaited supply projects slow down or fail to materialise,” he said. “MinRes is now looking at putting parcels on a digital auction platform so we can generate real price transparency.” The West understands the $US1300/t price excludes tax and the sale encompassed 20,000 tonnes of product from MinRes’ Mt Marion mine. Mr Thurlow said most WA spodumene is locked up in long-term offtake agreements, while MinRes’ product is uncontracted, meaning the diversified miner is “well placed to capitalise on the significant future demand” from major chemical and battery producers. Earlier this month it was reported that Albemarle had planned a series of auctions to “explore price discovery while ensuring a fair and transparent process for all customers”. It aimed to do this via a bidding model where buyers can “state what they consider the appropriate price to be through private bids”. This is essentially a blind auction, similar to a tender process, designed to ensure bidders are not aware of what their rivals are offering. The move by Albemarle came days after Pilbara Minerals accepted a pre-auction offer for a spodumene concentrate cargo at an equivalent price of $US1200/t. However, Pilbara is making the delivery for that cargo in the December quarter, meaning Albemarle’s purported sale provides a clearer picture of the near-term demand for lithium. The price of the battery metal shed more than 80 per cent of its value over 2023 on the back of a supply glut intertwined with weaker-than-anticipated uptake of electric vehicles. It tumbled further this year, slipping below the $US900/t-mark in January, before signs of a rebound emerged this month. Almost all of the spodumene produced in WA is shipped to China. In WA Albemarle has a 49 per cent stake in the Talison joint venture that controls Australia’s largest lithium mine – Greenbushes — in the State’s South West near Bridgetown. Tianqi and IGO control the remaining 51 per cent. Albemarle has a 50/50 joint venture with Mineral Resources at the Wodgina lithium mine 120km south of Port Hedland in the Pilbara. The spodumene Albemarle sold at auction on Tuesday was from Wodgina. Additionally, the North Carolina-headquartered company owns the $2.3 billion Kemerton lithium hydroxide plant — also in the South West — which has been plagued by technical issues on top of the price pinch. On Thursday the South Western Times first reported that the axe was swung on about 150 construction jobs at Kemerton amid cost-cutting measures.