Albemarle said on Thursday it would delay construction plans for about 125,000 tons of additional lithium processing capacity as an oversupply of the white metal used to make electric vehicle batteries has pushed down prices.
The move from the world’s top lithium producer is happening as trade tensions between the US and China rattle commodity markets, particularly Lithium, which has been especially weak because of lower demand from China after a change in the country’s electric vehicle subsidies.