Port Hedland exports no lithium in February

Market: Metals
11/03/20

Port Hedland in West Australia (WA) did not export lithium concentrate in February, given the continued downturn in the lithium market. This compared to 24,500 dry metric tonnes (dmt) in January and 27,608 dmt in December.

This is the second time in the past two years that Port Hedland has not exported lithium to China, according to data from the Pilbara Ports Authority. The last time this occurred was January 2019.

Port Hedland exported 280,524 dmt of lithium to China in 2019. Exports were affected by market weakness and production cutbacks by producers to reduce costs as concentrate prices slumped to around $500/dmt.

Some lithium producers in WA have cut production, suspended operations and reduced lithium sales in response to weak market conditions.

The port's export of copper concentrates rose to 28,359t in February, with one shipment each to China, Singapore and South Korea. Exports grew from 18,743t in January.

Port Hedland also did not export manganese ore in February, underlining the slowdown in the Chinese steel industry. There was one shipment of 112,288t of manganese ore to China in January.

By Angus Macmillan

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