Special Ops "SQM Lithium Oversupply Scare 2.0": Now Let's Watch The M&A Deals - South Korea's POSCO Signs Long-term Deal To Buy Lithium From Australia's Pilbara.

Morgan Stanley has joined The Panic about SQM Lithium OverSupply Scare 2.0 yesterday. Much better experts on Lithium Supply than me have called this "piece of work" by all the right names already. Banking Slang (BS) is easy to translate once you can see where "the smart money" is going. The attempts to generate "Lithium 50 Cents Trades" again hopefully will be not very successful.  The wave of M&A deals and Long-term Lithium Supply deals will open the cards of the "super smart players" at this Geo-Political Poker table. The ugly truth is that, literally, only a few lithium companies can sign any long-term Lithium Supply Agreements and even less will be able to deliver ... 

All major names have retested the level of education of their lithium investors yesterday and we can form a very powerful double-bottom technical base for the real fireworks now. The Panic is here, but it is not about any of the mysterious "Lithium Oversupply" - the real Panic is about the Security of Lithium Supply. The Tsunami of Model 3 is coming after Tesla Energy rEVolution Earthquake in the auto industry. DIEsel is dying by the thousand cuts. More than 200 new EVs models are coming by 2020.

Security Of Lithium Supply For Tesla Energy rEVolution: Wood Mackenzie - “I Think A Lot Of Car Manufacturers Are Almost Panicking."

Ganfeng Lithium's $1 Billion Dollars Hong Kong IPO is making headlines and literally, only a few companies in the world can provide long-term contracts to supply lithium. Recent shakedown of the lithium sector provides the best entry point for "the smart money" and will open the new wave of M&A deals. Whether this "smart money" and people who have orchestrated the panic about SQM Lithium OverSupply Scare 2.0 are the same is not so important now. The fireworks are coming every time if you put disruption of $12 Trillion dollars industries of Transportation and Energy on the top of Lithium Market, which was only $3 Billion in sales in 2017. Read more.

SQM Lithium OverSupply Scare 2.0 Aftermath: As Heard On Bloomberg - "There Is Not Enough Lithium To Make All Cars Electric".

Ganfeng Lithium is UP another 8% after Chinese Holidays, the total move is UP 28% after almost 50% correction. Succesful $1 Billion Dollars IPO in Hong Kong for the largest integrated lithium materials producer in China will bring the attention back.

Lithium Americas with Investment Stake and JV with Ganfeng Lithium.

International Lithium with Investment Stake and 

Two JVs with Ganfeng Lithium.

Kirill Klip: International Lithium Corp. Presentation At Wentworth. "Lithium Race And Energy rEVolution - The World Just Before The INTERNET."

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

Please read legal disclaimer. There is no investment advice on this blog. Always consult a qualified financial adviser before any investment decisions. DYOR.

Reuters:

South Korea's POSCO Signs Long-term Deal To Buy Lithium From Australia's Pilbara.

SEOUL, Feb 27 (Reuters) - South Korean steelmaker POSCO on Tuesday said it had agreed to buy up to 240,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate per year from Australian miner Pilbara Minerals, using the commodity to help supply producers of electric vehicle batteries. 

As part of the deal, the Australian unit of POSCO will acquire a 4.75 percent stake in Pilbara for A$79.6 million ($62.49 million). 

POSCO said in a statement that it planned to make about 30,000 tonnes of lithium products per year starting from 2020. It plans to supply these to firms including battery material manufacturing affiliate POSCO ES Materials and its joint venture with China’s Huayou Cobalt Co Ltd, as well as South Korean battery makers. 

Key South Korean battery makers include LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation. 

POSCO said the deal meant it had secured a stable source of raw materials for manufacturing batteries, adding that it would be able to choose between different sources of lithium depending on prices. It said other sources of the material included recycling. 

POSCO also agreed to acquire convertible bonds worth about A$79.6 million that can be turned into another stake in Pilbara. 

Pilbara Minerals, which owns 100 percent of the Pilgangoora lithium mine in western Australia, plans to begin production of about 300,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate in the second half of this year, eventually reaching as much as 800,000 tonnes annually, POSCO said. 

It added that Pilbara also planned to take a 30-percent stake in POSCO’s planned future lithium factory. POSCO has yet to disclose a timetable or location for that facility.

Security Of Lithium Supply For Tesla Energy rEVolution: Wood Mackenzie - “I Think A Lot Of Car Manufacturers Are Almost Panicking."

It looks like that awakening is finally happening. Now FT reports on "the panic" among automakers, who have "suddenly" realized that they need lithium batteries to make millions of electric cars. Otherwise, these millions of EVs will be made in China and "Great Autos" will be left in the Cancer Hazard Polluting DIEsel dust with billions of dollars in stranded assets after the brave marketing idea with "Clean DIEsel". 

In the news over the weekend, BMW was caught in a crossfire over DIEselgate as well as Mercedes earlier last weeks. FIAT is talking about ditching DIEsel from 2022 and Porsche is thinking hard about the same move now. 

Ganfeng Lithium's $1 Billion Dollars Hong Kong IPO is making headlines and literally, only a few companies in the world can provide long-term contracts to supply lithium. Recent shakedown of the lithium sector provides the best entry point for "the smart money" and will open the new wave of M&A deals. Whether this "smart money" and people who have orchestrated the panic about SQM Lithium OverSupply Scare 2.0 are the same is not so important now. The fireworks are coming every time if you put disruption of $12 Trillion dollars industries of Transportation and Energy on the top of Lithium Market, which was only $3 Billion in sales in 2017.

Tesla Energy rEVolution M&A Chronicles: Top China Lithium Producer To Extend Deal Spree With Listing.

Kirill Klip: International Lithium Corp. Presentation At Wentworth. "Lithium Race And Energy rEVolution - The World Just Before The INTERNET."

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

Please read legal disclaimer. There is no investment advice on this blog. Always consult a qualified financial adviser before any investment decisions. DYOR.

FT:

Global carmakers race to lockin lithium for electric vehicles

China and Japan lead dash for resources deals to capture market for powering autos of the future

Tesla Energy rEVolution M&A Chronicles: Top China Lithium Producer To Extend Deal Spree With Listing.

International Lithium Congratulates Our Join Venture Partner Ganfeng Lithium: China's Largest Lithium Producer Ganfeng Files For $1B HK IPO.

"We would like to congratulate our Joint Venture Partner Ganfeng Lithium with filing for $1 Billion Dollars Hong Kong IPO. Happy Chinese New Year to our Friends!" Commented Kirill Klip Executive Chairman of International Lithium Corp. Read more.

SQM Lithium OverSupply Scare 2.0 Aftermath: As Heard On Bloomberg - "There Is Not Enough Lithium To Make All Cars Electric".

Ganfeng Lithium is UP another 8% after Chinese Holidays, the total move is UP 28% after almost 50% correction. Succesful $1 Billion Dollars IPO in Hong Kong for the largest integrated lithium materials producer in China will bring the attention back.

Lithium Americas with Investment Stake and JV with Ganfeng Lithium.

International Lithium with Investment Stake and 

Two JVs with Ganfeng Lithium.

Kirill Klip: International Lithium Corp. Presentation At Wentworth. "Lithium Race And Energy rEVolution - The World Just Before The INTERNET."

International Lithium And Ganfeng Lithium Approve $17M Budget For Mariana JV, Argentina.

“We welcome very positive developments at the Mariana JV with our partner Ganfeng Lithium,” commented Kirill Klip, Executive Chairman of ILC. “This comprehensive budget for 2018 is expected to bring the Mariana JV to important valuation milestones for the Company; preliminary economic assessment and pre-feasibility studies. We are looking forward to the confirmation that membrane technology provided by Ganfeng Lithium will allow our joint venture operation to produce lithium hydroxide in Argentina.” Read more.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

Please read legal disclaimer. There is no investment advice on this blog. Always consult a qualified financial adviser before any investment decisions. DYOR.

Bloomberg:

 Top China Lithium Producer To Extend Deal Spree With Listing.

This article is written by the Bloomberg News team. It appeared first on the Bloomberg Terminal. 

Ganfeng Lithium Co., China’s top producer of the metal that’s used in electric vehicle batteries, will deploy proceeds from a planned Hong Kong listing to extend an acquisition spree that’s seen the company invest in projects from Ireland to Australia.

The supplier, based in Jiangxi province in the country’s southeast, will target expansions through further exploration, and plans “to continue to actively explore the possibility of acquiring further sources of lithium in order to enrich our core portfolio,” according to a filing dated Feb. 14 lodged with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Proceeds will also be deployed to add battery production capacity, with a focus on solid-state technology, and to expand a recycling unit able to retrieve raw materials from spent cells.

“The lithium industry in 2018 will be characterized by M&A,” with Ganfeng’s listing to boost the producer’s firepower to expand across the sector’s supply chain, Chris Berry, a New York-based analyst on energy metals, and founder of House Mountain Partners LLC, said in an email. “Ganfeng’s strategy of vertical integration is the way to survive and thrive as the lithium market grows dramatically.”

Ganfeng didn’t immediately respond Friday to an e-mailed request to confirm the planned timeframe for its proposed listing and the expected value of the proceeds. Ganfeng holds an existing listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Citigroup Inc. is sole sponsor of the listing, according to the filing.

Lithium production probably needs to quadruple within a decade to meet demand for electric vehicles, a supply scenario that’s rare in the history of any commodity, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts said in an Oct. 12 note. The industry is likely to require a second wave of new projects beyond the mid-2020s to keep pace with demand, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Ganfeng, currently the sector’s third-largest producer of lithium compounds, will increase its market share to about 17 percent this year, leapfrogging Chile’s Soc. Quimica & Minera de Chile SA to become second only to Albemarle Corp., according to a CRU Group study cited in the listing.

The supplier’s plans to add new production lines in China in 2018 will boost capacity and add a recycling facility capable of handling about 34,000 metric tons of used batteries a year, according to the document.

Ganfeng, which sells products to more than 10 countries, supplies the world’s tier-one battery producers and has been in discussions with leading global vehicle manufacturers, it said. Funds from the listing will also be used to offer financial assistance to Lithium Americas Corp., a project developer, and to boost research work on solid-state batteries, according to the filing.