Livent’s lithium woes in China cloud industry outlook

Livent on Tuesday forecast a drop in Chinese lithium sales for the year because of uncertainty about the country’s electric vehicle subsidies, a worrisome sign for other producers of the key battery component.

The Philadelphia-based company, among the first major global lithium producers to post results this quarter, said Chinese sales will drop below 20% of total revenue in 2019, from 25% last year.