The company posted a 5% drop in quarterly profit on Tuesday, matching Wall Street's expectations and sending its shares up 11%, as cost cuts and favourable supply contract terms offset a stark drop in prices for the metal used to make electric vehicle batteries.
With costs at Mt. Cattlin standing at USD 700 a tonne, prices falling further, and high spending to ready for the next phase of mining, the miner is reviewing its strategy, Graves said.
"The question of care and maintenance... we're asking those questions pretty intensively internally, about is that the right strategy for Mount Cattlin right now," Graves told an analyst call after the results.
"I don't know if we act on just one or two price points that come out of China for spod concentrate, but if it looks clear that we're in a period of spodumene prices that are three digits and not four digits, then I think the whole care and maintenance question becomes much more acute."
Prices for spodumene in top consumer China are hovering around USD 940 a tonne, the lowest in almost three years, compressing margins for Arcadium and other lithium producers.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
