Liontown Resources is just months away from first lithium production at its Kathleen Valley project in Australia, but an accelerated expansion is not very likely to happen, chief executive officer Tony Ottaviano told Fastmarkets in an interview.

The sharp correction in lithium prices has been driven by a decline in demand rather than supply over-build, particularly given that projects are already being curtailed, deferred or capacity cut, the chief executive officer of Australia-based Liontown Resources said

The volatility in lithium prices reflects the growing pains of a relatively small market and will decrease as the market matures, according to the executive chairman of Vulcan Energy Resources.

Aluminium and nickel appear to have once again escaped inclusion in the latest list of sanctions imposed by western governments on Russia, ending days of speculation that increased both the prices and the traded volumes of the metals.

Lepidolite producers in China have been a major wildcard in the lithium industry of late, with production surging despite its higher cost, energy-intensive nature.

The Western Australia Nickel assets owned by BHP are the latest casualty of the rout currently disrupting the nickel industry, with the miner saying that it might put the entire operating unit on care and maintenance

A decade after the Koniambo nickel joint venture in New Caledonia was inaugurated with great fanfare by the French president, its major industrial partner and operator, Glencore, announced it was putting the asset on care and maintenance and planned to sell its stake.

A group of major automotive manufacturers including Tesla and General Motors sent a joint letter with mining companies and electric vehicle (EV) battery companies on Monday February 5 urging the Biden administration to allow a 10% tax credit to apply to both mineral extraction and mineral processing in the US

The copper concentrate market was already tight, but the addition of major new smelting capacity this year – starting with the expansion of Freeport’s Gresik smelter in Indonesia — will likely mean maintenance breaks, capacity curtailments and potentially even closures while operating costs start to become untenable, Fastmarkets understands.

Major aluminium producers Alcoa, Rio Tinto and Century Aluminum have been accused of pocketing vast sums of money from the sale of aluminium products to the beverage industry in the US at inflated prices – and of potentially colluding to do so