- Prices for hard rock lithium, used in batteries for electric vehicles, resumed their fall to record lows this week, according to price provider Asian Metals.
- Prices for the raw material, known as spodumene, fell $5 to $485 on Wednesday from $490 where they had sat since mid January. Prices have collapsed by half since they began falling in May 2018 when they stood at $965.
- Australia is the world's biggest spodumene supplier, accounting for around half of the world's supply of lithium.
- Miners last month said they expected tough conditions to persist well into 2020 amid weak orders from electric vehicle makers in China that have since been compounded by the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy.
- Australian producers have been taking lower prices and curtailing output. Falling prices suggest tougher times to come.
- Orocobre Ltd <ORE.AX> cut its lithium carbonate sales price for the December quarter and slashed operating costs by 16%, while Pilbara Minerals <PLS.AX> said in January a final investment decision on a chemical conversion facility - a joint venture with Posco - has been delayed by six months.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; editing by Richard Pullin)
