{"id":1178193,"date":"2020-04-15T05:45:18","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T10:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1020479"},"modified":"2020-04-15T05:45:18","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T10:45:18","slug":"chinas-top-lithium-miner-eyes-stake-sales-as-losses-deepens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1178193","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s top lithium miner eyes stake sales as losses deepens"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>China\u2019s Tianqi Lithium Corp., the country\u2019s top producer of the battery metal, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.tianqilithium.com\/Upload\/File\/202004\/20200415144443_4485.PDF\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">said on Wednesday<\/a> it would post a net loss in the first quarter of 2020, adding pressure to take aggressive measures, include stake sales, to pay back debt\u00a0over $6 billion in debt.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center d-xs-block d-sm-block d-md-none'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Shenzhen-listed miner warned losses for the first three<br \/>\nmonths of the year will mount to between 450 and 510 million yuan ($64-$72<br \/>\nmillion) compared with&nbsp;net profit&nbsp;of 111 million yuan ($16m) a year<br \/>\nearlier.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It attributed the estimate mainly to weak lithium prices,<br \/>\ncoronavirus-related disruptions that affected sales, and foreign exchange<br \/>\nfactors.<\/p>\n<p>Among the measures to reduce debt, Tianqi is said to be exploring a partial sale of its stake in Greenbushes mine in Western Australia, the world\u2019s largest hard-rock lithium operation, according to the <em>Australian Financial Review<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The move would be a setback for the miner, which went from being a provincial company to joining the world\u2019s largest producers of lithium in less than a decade. <\/p>\n<p>Tianqi invested heavily in the past two years in an ambitious<br \/>\nglobal expansion plan aimed at securing its leadership in the lithium market, putting<br \/>\nChina in a dominant position just as sales of electric vehicles (EVs) took off.<\/p>\n<p>A collapse in prices&nbsp;for the metal used in the<br \/>\nbatteries that power EVs and high tech electronics, have thwarted its plans&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/worlds-no-2-lithium-miner-sqm-hit-by-weak-prices-demand\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">and those of its rivals<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ganfeng Lithium said in its own earnings alert this week it expected<br \/>\nfirst-quarter net profit to fall 96-97% year-on-year.<\/p>\n<p>Albemarle (NYSE: ALB), the world\u2019s No. 1 lithium<br \/>\nproducer,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/albemarle-puts-the-break-on-growing-plans-amid-lithium-market-weakness\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">postponed last year plans to add about 125,000 tonnes<\/a>&nbsp;of<br \/>\nprocessing capacity. It also revised a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/mineral-resources-signs-1-15b-lithium-deal-albemarle\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">deal to buy into Australia\u2019s Mineral Resources<\/a>\u2019 (ASX: MIN)<br \/>\nWodgina lithium mine and said it would delay building 75,000 tonnes of<br \/>\nprocessing capacity at Kemerton, also in Australia.<\/p>\n<p>Chile\u2019s Chemical and Mining Society (SQM), the world\u2019s<br \/>\nsecond largest producer of the metal, has shown signs of distress,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/worlds-no-2-lithium-miner-sqm-hit-by-weak-prices-demand\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pushing back a key expansion<\/a>&nbsp;at its Atacama salt flat<br \/>\noperations from the end of 2020 to late 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Canadian lithium miner Nemaska Lithium (TSX: NMX), which was<br \/>\nbacked by Japan\u2019s SoftBank,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/nemaska-lithium-goes-bankrup-first-victim-of-market-glut\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed for&nbsp;bankruptcy&nbsp;protection<\/a>&nbsp;in December.<\/p>\n<p>The main factor behind the price slump has been the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/lithium-prices-to-remain-low-as-hype-has-met-reality-cru\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">avalanche of new supply<\/a>&nbsp;that hit the sector over the<br \/>\npast year, triggered mainly by mine expansions and a cut in government<br \/>\nsubsidies for purchasers of EVs in China, the world\u2019s largest market.<\/p>\n<p>While long-term prospects for the metal are&nbsp;positive, global<br \/>\ndemand for the year will be 25% lower than pre-coronavirus forecasts, according<br \/>\nto commodities consultancy Roskill Information Services. This is the market in<br \/>\nwhich Tianqi will need to find a way to cover a $3.5 billion loan from<br \/>\nstate-owned Citic Bank, due to be repaid in November this year.<\/p>\n<p>The Chinese miner used most of the funding to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/tianqi-lithium-name-three-directors-sqm-board-next-month\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">buy almost a quarter of SQM in 2018<\/a>. It also grabbed 51%<br \/>\nof&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/worlds-largest-hard-rock-lithium-mine-get-bigger\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Australia\u2019s largest lithium mine, Greenbushes<\/a>, last year<br \/>\nand completed a $400 million lithium hydroxide processing plant outside Perth.<\/p>\n<p>In December, Tianqi&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/en.tianqilithium.com\/Upload\/File\/202001\/20200103195356_7951.PDF\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">raised about 2.93 billion yuan<\/a>&nbsp;($424 million) in a<br \/>\nrights issue, less half the 7 billion yuan it was seeking to help pay down the<br \/>\nCitic loan.<\/p>\n<p>The Greenbushes mine, in which Tianqi has a 51% stake, is considered one<br \/>\nof the world\u2019s best lithium assets. Albemarle owns the other 49%. The asset is<br \/>\noperated by their joint venture Talison Lithium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tianqi flagged losses for the first three months of the year to be 450-510 million yuan ($64-$72 million) compared with net profit of 111 million yuan ($16m) in 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[949,369,2640],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178193"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1178193"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1178372,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178193\/revisions\/1178372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1178193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1178193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1178193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}