NRG Metals Inc. V.NGZ

NGZ mnb SHARING LITHIUM EPSTEIN RESEARCH POST

[moneynorthbound]

20 Feb 2020, 13:51

 

@EpsteinResearch $LTHM Livent #lithium commentary, not good for Livent, but perhaps good for #lithium peers.... For full-year 2020, Livent expects revenue to be in the range of $375 million to $425 million, and Adjusted EBITDA to range from $60 million to $85 million (a 20% EBITDA margin). This guidance is based on the Company's expected volume growth, on a total LCE basis, of roughly 30% versus 2019. Offsetting this volume increase is Livent's view that market pricing will continue to remain depressed, and as a result, expects that its average realized pricing for lithium hydroxide in 2020 will be low-to-mid-teens percent lower than its average realized pricing in 2019. Additionally, Livent anticipates higher costs from using up to 5,000 tons of additional third-party lithium carbonate to sell higher volumes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide. These two items are the largest drivers of Livent's expectation of lower year-on-year profitability in 2020. Livent also announced that it is slowing the pace of its carbonate expansion in Argentina by approximately six months, resulting in phase 1 completion in mid-2021. Also, the Company will be pausing its current lithium hydroxide expansion project in order to align its completion with that of phase 1 in Argentina. "Despite another record year of lithium compound demand, pricing has been severely impacted by oversupply conditions. Lithium producers and resource developers are responding to this by reducing output and delaying or canceling capacity expansion projects," said Paul Graves, president and CEO of Livent. "We recognize the financial challenges current pricing levels are creating, and as a result, have elected to slow down our own capacity expansion program in order to preserve our financial flexibility and align our additional supply with future demand growth." "While the battery producer and OEM supply chains continue to evolve, the fundamentals driving automotive electrification remain strong," continued Mr. Graves. "The low-cost and sustainable nature of our brine-based operations, our partnerships with leading battery producers and automotive OEMs, and our continued investment in developing next generation engineered lithium products are key differentiators that position Livent for future growth." $LAC $ALB $SQM $GXY.ax $WML $SLL $NLC $AAL $ML $CYP $BCN.L $INR.ax $AGY.ax $NGZ $POR $GLN.ax $LKE.ax

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