"Piedmont Lithium cuts 27% of workforce as prices plunge"

" Piedmont Lithium cuts 27% of workforce as prices plunge \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\nPiedmont Lithium (NASDAQ, ASX: PLL) said on Tuesday it had laid off 27% of its workforce as a sharp downturn in the lithium market is forcing miners to cut production and look for cost-cutting measures. \r\n\r\nThe battery metal producer, which has a joint venture (JV) operation in Canada and a lithium project in Ghana, said it expects to complete the majority of its cost saving initiatives by the end of the first quarter.\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\nPiedmont Lithium noted it aimed to achieve about $10 million in annual savings. \u201cThese cost reductions, while difficult, are necessary to position the company for the long-term,\u201d chief executive\u00a0Keith\u00a0Phillips\u00a0 said in the statement .\r\n\r\nPrices of the lightweight metal have plunged more than 80% from a late-2022 record high, and the\u00a0 market consensus \u00a0for the year is negative.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe lithium market is going through tumultuous times,\u201d Allan Pedersen, principal analyst for lithium at WoodMac, said last week. \u201cWhile demand has nearly tripled in the past three years, reaching around one million tonnes in 2023, the growth rate is expected to moderate. Nevertheless, the industry\u2019s fundamentals remain excellent, driven by the global push to decarbonize,\u201d Pedersen added.\r\n\r\nUBS said in January it expected global lithium supply to jump by 40% in 2024, to more than 1.4 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent.\r\n\r\nOutput in top producers Australia and Latin America will rise 22% and 29% respectively, the bank said. Production in Africa is expected to double, driven by projects in Zimbabwe, according to UBS.\r\n North Carolina project \r\nPiedmont, an Australian company redomiciled to the US, intents to position itself as one of the world\u2019s lowest cost producers of lithium hydroxide.\r\n\r\nThe firm took centre stage in the junior lithium space in 2020, when its\u00a0 stock surged almost 84% \u00a0in a day\u2019s trading in Sydney after it\u00a0 confirmed it had signed a sales agreement with Tesla \u00a0to supply the electric vehicle maker with high-purity lithium ore mineral for up to ten years.\r\n\r\nThe deal with Elon Musk\u2019s company was paused and then\u00a0 renegotiated in January 2023 , after Piedmont found a temporary source for the metal from its North American Lithium (NAL) project,\u00a0 a JV with Sayona Mining \u00a0(ASX: SYA). Piedmont\u2019s access to that Quebec supply is\u00a0 expected to end by 2026 .\r\n\r\nThe company, which has been trying to get its\u00a0 eponymous lithium project in North Carolina \u00a0up and running since 2018, said it had provided State regulators additional information on the project.\r\n\r\nThis means a decision on the open-pit Piedmont lithium mine should be ready in coming weeks. If approved, the operation would be one of the few lithium-producing sites in the US.\r\n\r\nShares in the company closed 7.5% lower in Sydney to A$0.19, leaving it with a market capitalization of A$374 million ($243m).\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n "

"Piedmont Lithium cuts 27% of workforce as prices plunge"

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