Seems like with all this talk about EV’s, Lithium batteries on airplanes, phones, etc. that lithium mining, refining and battery design and production would be worth exploring for foolish investing. Have any companies in these industries made the foolish investing list?
Thanks.
Jim
You’re about 2 years late to that trade.
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Seems like with all this talk about EV’s, Lithium batteries on airplanes, phones, etc. that lithium mining, refining and battery design and production would be worth exploring for foolish investing. Have any companies in these industries made the foolish investing list?
Thanks.
A good place where they mine the stuff is The People’s Republic of China. One problem these days is the PRC does not welcome the US dollar in payment of bills, and the US is boycotting their exports. So too bad.
https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/renewable/china-d…
SQM in Chili is the leading producer. Albemarl is the largest US producer.
Paul,
Pull a chart for SQM using monthly bars and a 3-year lookback. As I said earlier, the OP is 2 years late to this trade.
Since its March '20 low at $15 --when the buying should have been done-- SQM is now up by about a gazillion percent and too late to chase.
Arindam
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“Buy on rumor, sell on news,” probably indicates its time to sell and take profits on lithium.
The news part is that most manufacturers are building plants and investing in electric vehicles. We shall see how this comes out. Demand seems likely to increase for the next 10 years (if evs succeed).
Batteries and renewable energy sources are very IN on the internet these days it, and it seems everyone is trying to sell a piece of it. But whether there is any “there” there remains an unknown.
There are a lot of small tech start-ups that are researching new technologies. If they are lucky, one or two of them will actually develop an actual product, and if one is really lucky, they’ll be able to bring it to market, and if they hit a home run, consumers will actually buy the product. Of course, figuring out which one is going to actually be accepted by consumers and actually do all the overly optimistic and incredibly hyped things you keep hearing about, that’s nearly impossible.
What this “buzz” wants you to do is invest in an idea. An optimistic idea, to be sure, but at this point, even if a company has gone public, it is probably still so small (micro cap) that it remains an idea company. My personal focus is on companies that actually do have a product or service, a demonstrated ability to reach and tap into a demand market, and a strategy to grow that market over the long term (3-5 years or longer).
Fuskie
Who notes it is more likely such a company would be bought out by a major tech giant if it ever reaches the point where it has a sustainable technology…
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Paul,
There is little genuine demand for EVs, because they’re an over-priced scam. What there is is gov’t manipulation of the transportation markets, because the greenies don’t understand basic physics and economics, nor do they really care about the environmental damage caused by so-called “green energy”.
Trafficking in lithium stocks is the moral equivalent of buying tobacco stocks. (IMHO, natch.) But if one is going to do it, there’s no sense in buying at the top of the market. The time to have bought SQM (and similar) was 2 years ago.
Arindam
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Amazing how many counts on which that is wrong.
There is growing demand for EVs, and even more so as gas prices have risen.
Initial consumers may have been interested in the green aspects, put as prices of EVs have come down and as charging stations have proliferated, people have been increasingly interested in the lower cost of operation and not having to go to the gas station every week.
As for green energy, there’s nothing so-called about it. It costs less and pollutes less to generate, distribute and consume electricity than it does to drill, refine, distribute and burn gas.
Equating lithium tobacco just boggles the mind. I think the better analogy would be comparing lithium to virtually every other precious metal mining operation. There are a lot of players, they are mostly small- or micro-cap stocks, and they basically operate in a commodity market.
Fuskie
Who notes that investing in lithium mining is not the same thing as building batteries for EVs; there’s a technological aspect to designing a long-lasting battery that creates and adds value beyond the sum of the mineral components, and as is the case with any innovating technology, only a few will succeed and create a market, i.e. being adopted by an auto manufacturer as the core on which their vehicles are built…
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lithium mining is not the same thing as building batteries for EVs
I agree. Lithium is a commodity just like all the others. The supplier who can deliver at the lowest cost should get the order. It helps to have a better quality mineral to mine. And to have more efficient technology. And lowest shipping cost to the customer. Larger producers can spread overhead over more product reducing their cost.
The market will sort all this out. Industry leaders usually win if they manage their businesses well.
As to EVs, companies believe EVs are necessary to meet environmental requirements in Europe. So they are investing big. The only alternative is hydrogen, which some believe will also be costly.
If we want green energy, we have to pay the price. We shall see what buyers will accept.
Paul,
EVs are a scam, as Eric Peters documents. The major auto companies wouldn’t have anything to do with them if our dear fascist gov’t hadn’t been highjacked by “the greenies”. In a truly free market, EVs would die. The proof is in Germany. When subsidies expired, so did sales.
Yes, lithium is a commodity, as is wheat or timber. But like extracting coal, extracting lithium wrecks environments way beyond a price any rational person would pay. Same-same with the fracking scam.
Arindam
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I don’t know (or care) who Eric Peters is, but automakers announced plans to move their fleets to EVs long before the current administration. The fact is that demand has been growing and the writing has been on the wall for ICE vehicles for a long time.
It is the free market that is driving the move to EVs.
Fuskie
Who does agree that lithium mining has an environmental impact, but it’s not equitable to extracting coal or fracking…
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