Commodities: Lithium
Nickel/lithium miner IGO was in the news yesterday following a fire at its Greenbushes lithium plant, although the company has since said production remains on track to meet FY26 guidance. Over the past year, IGO has been a classic “world-class asset, execution headache” story, which is unfortunately not an isolated theme across the ASX mining sector.
Liontown has rapidly evolved from a transition story into one of the market’s purest lithium recovery plays. Investor focus has shifted from whether Kathleen Valley can successfully ramp up, to how quickly management can improve recoveries, lower costs and unlock the next phase of production growth. With the underground transition tracking ahead of schedule, lithium prices recovering and the balance sheet materially strengthened following the LG Energy Solution conversion, the outlook is significantly stronger than it was a year ago.
Hi James and Team
You view on IGO – Are you bullish on all resources?
Would you continue to hold IGO?
regards
Debbie
Hi Market Matters Team
Can I have your current view on Smart group (SIQ) and Liontown (LTR). Would you hold them now or sell?
Both were sold by MMatters late Jan.
regards
Debbie
Lithium stocks continued to outperform last week, as surging fuel costs, with diesel above US$3/litre, reigniting investor enthusiasm for EVs and battery storage. With heavyweight PLS Group (ASX:PLS) making new highs this month we see no reason to fade the move as the tailwind is likely to remain for the foreseeable future.
PLS +1.58%: delivered a solid operational quarter, with higher production and lower costs offsetting weaker sales volumes as lithium markets remain volatile.
MIN bounced +6.8% on Wednesday taking it back to the middle of its 2026 trading range – it’s not “cheap” but that’s for a reason. MIN delivered a strong result in February, with earnings beating expectations as margins improved across the business, particularly in mining services although it didn’t “pop” on the result having run hard for the last nine months.
Lithium is moving out of its cyclical downturn and into a tightening phase, with demand broadening beyond EVs into energy storage and infrastructure linked to AI and data centres. At the same time, the supply response has been curtailed following the 2023–25 price slump, with producers cutting output and delaying projects.
Lithium stocks topped the leaderboard last week, as surging fuel costs, with diesel above US$3/litre, reignited investor enthusiasm for EVs and battery storage.
