Australia’s lithium producers see signs market is stabilising

Pilbara Minerals said on Thursday it saw signs the lithium market was stabilising as Australia's top producers reported a slump in earnings and took steps to ride out slowing demand for the raw material of electric vehicle batteries. Lithium prices have fallen around 70% over the past year as EV sales growth slowed, but capacity expansions by chemicals makers and government support globally bode well for the market longer term, Pilbara Minerals CEO Dale Henderson said. In the short term, prices of lithium ore spodumene appear to have levelled out, with a small increase in China's lithium carbonate prices and more customer enquiries over the last eight weeks than in "quite some period", Henderson told an earnings call.