Zijin to miss lithium output target and control pace of projects

Zijin Mining Group, China’s most valuable miner and an aspiring lithium giant, said it will miss its production guidance for the battery material this year as prices continue to languish. Zijin’s lithium output will fall below its target of 25 000 tons, the company told investors on Monday, after posting a 46% increase in first-half earnings. The firm will control the pace at which its projects are commissioned and constructed as the industry grapples with oversupply, it said. Zijin is a major copper and gold miner that’s now investing in lithium exploration in China, Argentina and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In response to the plunge in prices, the company in May revised next year’s lithium target lower by 20 000 tons to 100 000 tons. The company said in its earnings statement that it expects the lithium glut to persist in the near term, although weakness in prices could accelerate the re-balancing between supply and demand. Spot prices of lithium carbonate, a key material used in electric-car batteries, are around three-year lows, as excessive supply has overwhelmed slower-than-expected demand growth from the EV industry. UBS Group this week lopped its forecasts for prices on the basis that the market will be heavily in surplus until at least 2027.