After a spectacular bust, battery-metal lithium is showing tentative signs of life on speculation the retracement that convulsed the market last year has forced the conditions for a recovery.
Lithium is a commodity that’s central to the energy transition given its role in batteries, but a global glut torpedoed prices last year as supply ran ahead of demand. Despite the tumult, major producers are keeping the faith, with No. 1 Albemarle Corp. maintaining that low prices are unsustainable, and No. 2 SQM plowing ahead with expansions as it holds onto a positive outlook.
“The lithium market is rebalancing, with industry curtailing production and projects,” UBS Group AG said in a recent report, while cautioning that a surplus remains. There’s been progress on the overall balance “but we highlight it could be transitory if price sentiment lifts too far, too fast,” it added.