Lithium Miner Pilbara Minerals to Halt Australian Plant’s Output

By Paul-Alain Hunt

October 30, 2024 at 12:58AM EDT

Dump truck transporting mined materials at Mount Holland lithium mine in Southern Cross, Western Australia, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. The Covalent joint venture between Sociedad Qumica y Minera de Chile SA (SQM) and Wesfarmers Ltd. officially started an Australian production complex thats ramping up despite a global glut of the battery material. Photographer: Philip Gostelow/Bloomberg (Philip Gostelow/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Lithium miner Pilbara Minerals Ltd. is suspending output from its Ngungaju processing plant at the Pilgangoora project in Western Australia, as a price downturn squeezes the sector.

The ongoing slump in lithium prices and the ramp up of another processing plant at the project were behind the decision to place Ngungaju in care and maintenance from Dec. 1, Pilbara said in a filing on Wednesday.

Pilbara’s decision followed a move by peer Albemarle Corp. in August, when it announced it was shutting half of its processing capacity in Australia and putting expansion plans on ice. Prices of the key battery metal used in electric vehicles have more than halved over the past 12 months, leading miners to curtail production.

The Perth-based company received $862 a ton for its spodumene concentrate during the three months ended September, down almost 20% on the previous quarter, it said. Revenue sunk by almost a third.