Australian battery metal producer IGO Ltd said on Wednesday it would put its Cosmos nickel project in Western Australia into care and maintenance due to low prices, as it also trimmed its annual lithium production forecast.
Australia’s nickel producers have been squeezed by Indonesia’s emergence as a supply powerhouse, which has led to a 40% price slump over the past year.
IGO, which already wrote down the value of Cosmos and its Forrestania mine by nearly A$1 billion ($659.90 million) in the financial year ended June 30, 2023, said that it foresaw an extra A$160 million to A$190 million hit as nickel prices extended their fall.
“This is not the outcome anyone at IGO wanted, however we cannot ignore the operational and financial risks involved in continuing to develop Cosmos in the current environment,” IGO CEO Ivan Vella said in a statement.
The company also flagged ongoing ramp-up issues and no sales from the Kwinana lithium hydroxide refinery that it owns with China’s Tianqi Lithium Corp amid a glut of global inventory that has weighed on prices.
Australian lithium producers are tracking the nickel industry although at a reduced pace, with cost cuts and production curtailments this reporting season, given slower-than-expected electric vehicle sales.
IGO said Kwinana’s December quarter lithium hydroxide production was steady from the prior quarter at 617 metric tons, including 286 tons of battery grade production.
Due to market volatility, it did not sell any lithium hydroxide during the December quarter, it said. Lithium hydroxide starts to degrade after six months.
IGO trimmed production guidance at its Greenbushes lithium project to 1.3 million tons to 1.4 million tons for fiscal 2024, a 7% drop from original guidance. It expects a 20% reduction in sales in the second half.
Shares slumped 9% in early trading before reversing to rise 1.1% to A$7.82 cents.
($1 = 1.5154 Australian dollars)
(By Melanie Burton and Ayushman Ojha; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Jamie Freed)
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