Australia's Orocobre Ltd said on Thursday that lithium prices have likely bottomed out, as it reported a 24% drop in quarterly production at its flagship Olaroz mine in Argentina, hit by coronavirus-related operational restrictions.
Orocobre said in a statement that prices of the commodity used in electric vehicle batteries appear to have bottomed out and that it expected higher realised prices in the second quarter.
Production from the Olaroz plant in Argentina for the September quarter came in at 2,352 tonnes, down from 3,093 tonnes last year, even as sales rose 9%.
The Brisbane-based company, which signed an offtake deal with a joint venture owned by Toyota Motor Corp and Panasonic during the quarter, added that the commissioning of the Naraha Lithium Hydroxide Plant in Japan has been delayed to the second half of next year.
Shares of the miner fell 3.6% in early trade, outpacing the broader market's 1.6% decline.
Orocobre peer Pilbara Minerals on Wednesday revealed a plan to buy embattled lithium producer Altura Mining Ltd after the latter entered administration this week.
(Reporting by A K Pranav in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Tom Brown)
