Here is an article About major USA lithium miner Albermarle1 Aug 2024 14:10
The article below contains information which clearly shows PREM is functioning well and efficiently as it should be.
Unfortunately the LSE website software is so incompetent it prevents me posting the complete article
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Commodities/Albemarle-cuts-back-lithium-processing-in-Australia-amid-price-slump
SYDNEY -- U.S. lithium giant Albemarle will scale back operations at its lithium processing plant in Australia and halt expansion of the facility due to the prolonged downturn in prices for the metal.
The North Carolina-based company announced the decision in a statement on Wednesday in the U.S., saying it had launched a "comprehensive review" of its cost and operating structure to "preserve long-term competitiveness" in the face of "ongoing industry headwinds."
"The review and steps underway will maintain Albemarle's competitive position and ensure we execute with agility today and in the future," said Albemarle chief executive Kent Masters.
The changes at the Kemerton plant in Western Australia were announced along with the company's second-quarter results, which included a net loss of $188 million, compared to a profit of $650 million for the same period in 2023.
Albemarle's move deals another blow to Australia's ambitions to boost its processing of critical minerals, amid downturns in prices caused by oversupply and lower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.
Albemarle has built two processing trains, or production lines, at the site, which produces lithium hydroxide from spodumene extracted from the nearby Greenbushes mine, in which Albemarle holds a 49% stake.
The company had originally planned four trains, which were to have a combined annual production capacity of 100,000 tonnes of the chemical used in EV batteries. Those plans had already been scaled back, with the cancellation of train 4.
In its announcement on Wednesday, the company said it would now stop construction on train 3 and idle train 2, transitioning it into "care and maintenance" status. It will focus solely on optimizing and ramping up train 1.
Masters told U.S. outlet CNBC that the plant's capacity would fall from 50,000 tonnes to 25,000 tonnes and the workforce at the site would be reduced by 40%.
The earlier cancellation of train 4 was the main contributor to a $215 million after-tax charge recorded in second-quarter results. The further scale-back at Kemerton is expected to result in a hit of between $900 million and $1 billion.
Albemarle recorded net sales in the second quarter of $1.4 billion, compared to $2.4 billion for the second quarter of 2023, a decline it attributed to lower pricing in energy storage.
Analysis firm BMI forecasts lithium hydroxide to average around $14,500 a tonne this year, compared to an average of almost $70,000 per tonne in 2022.