As the price of lithium rises and falls with international demand, that volatility is reflected on the ASX.
The price of lithium shot through the roof in 2022 as vehicle manufacturers began to produce electric vehicles en masse to meet a shift in consumer demand. But that demand was not to last, with the price of lithium plummeting as 2023 began, only to climb again mid-year as the Chinese market resupplied, then drop again in August.
The result is lithium being one of the highest performing, and yet most shorted, stocks on the ASX in recent years.
Liontown Resources has fought through cost blowouts and funding shortfalls as it gets its Kathleen Valley lithium project off the ground. What really sealed the company’s status as a serious lithium player was an attempted takeover by Albemarle earlier this year, which Liontown knocked back. Liontown is currently up 121 per cent year to date (YTD) on the ASX.
Core Lithium is down almost 57 per cent YTD, with the company weathering a particularly rough August. Core recently announced a $120 million equity raise to support its operations.
In good news for company, a 10,000-tonne parcel of spodumene concentrate is ready for shipping from its Finniss lithium operation. This will be Core’s third spodumene shipment to foundation customer Ganfeng Lithium.
Following the announcement this morning, Core is again showing signs of life on the ASX.
Pilbara Minerals transformed itself from a $500 million dollar company to a $15 billion behemoth in just three years thanks to soaring lithium success. The company is up 41 per cent YTD on the ASX.
Sayona Mining, which has lithium operations in WA and Canada, is down 30 per cent YTD. Lithium explorer Anson Resources is down almost 20 per cent YTD, seeing a $0.30 per share high in February, and a $0.14 low in August.
Allkem is up 27 per cent YTD, with the company reporting $US1.2 billion in group revenue, a significant increase on the previous year.
Data mentioned is accurate at the time of writing, August 24.