Lithium Australia inks three-year offtake deal with battery recycler

Proactive - Interviews for investors

Lithium Australia Ltd (ASX:LIT) CEO and managing director Simon Linge sits down with Proactive’s Elisha Newell to discuss the three-year offtake agreement subsidiary Envirostream has signed with South Korean battery recycler SungEel HiTech Co., Ltd. Effective from July 1, 2024, SungEel HiTech will purchase at least 60% of Lithium Australia's annual Mixed Metal Dust (MMD) production, contingent on quality standards. This agreement follows a Memorandum of Understanding from March 2024 and underscores the strategic importance of Lithium Australia's high-quality MMD. Linge expressed satisfaction with the swift transition from MoU to a formal agreement. He highlighted the agreement's role in the company’s recycling growth strategy, especially with increasing large-format lithium-ion battery (LIB) collection volumes and MMD production. The agreement sets MMD pricing based on prevailing metal prices from agreed indices. If the agreement had been active since July 2023, FY24YTD MMD sales would have generated approximately A$514,000 in revenue. SungEel, a long-standing customer since 2020, has purchased more than 300 tonnes of MMD and recently opened the world’s largest lithium-ion battery recycling plant in South Korea. The facility can process 20,000 tonnes of MMD using hydrometallurgy. SungEel operates recycling plants globally and plans further expansions. The MMD market is growing, evidenced by Lithium Australia’s FY24YTD MMD sales of 256 tonnes, up from 139 tonnes the previous year. This growth is supported by increasing large-format LIB collections, driven by securing recycling agreements with OEMs and battery manufacturers. Following the offtake agreement, SungEel and Lithium Australia are discussing a joint development agreement (JDA) to upgrade recycling equipment and expand processing capacity, subject to negotiation and approvals. #ProactiveAustralia #LithiumAustralia #ASX #LIT #Envirostream #BatteryRecycling #SungEelHiTech #MixedMetalDust #MMD #RecyclingIndustry #BatteryMaterials #LithiumIonBatteries #invest #investing #investment #investor #stockmarket #stocks #stock #stockmarketnews