Lithium Australia NL ('LIT') said it will refocus operations on battery recycling and sales, cutting costs and jobs as it seeks to weather a slump in raw materials prices exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. The company is further reducing expenditures and providing the greatest support to the business units closest to positive cash flow to benefit shareholders. It said it would reduce the number of workers, but did not specify the number of layoffs.

Analysis of latest tungsten market from Chinatungsten Online

The ferro tungsten and ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices in China continue to remain stable in the wake of high average tungsten forecast prices boosting market confidence. Suppliers in the raw material side try to raise product prices while most downstream users hold cautious sentiment. 

Rare earth market quotation in China: praseodymium neodymium oxide price declined from 296,000.00 RMB/ton to 295,000.00 RMB/ton, praseodymium neodymium metal price declined from 375,000.00 RMB/ton to 374,000.00 RMB/ton. 

Molybdenum market quotation in China: the ammonium molybdate, ammonium heptamolvbdate and molybdenum powder prices remain weak adjustment under heavy wait-and-see atmosphere in the market. At present, most insiders are waiting for new round of steel tenders.

A new selective tungsten process technology has been released by semiconductor equipment manufacturer Applied Materials, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Applied Materials), which claims to be able to remove a critical bottleneck to continued 2D scaling in foundry-logic nodes.

India has sought cooperation in lithium mining and supply from Argentina, Bolivia since February, and Chile in the "lithium triangle" region of South America. Last week, Khanij Bidesh and the Argentine mining company Hu Jujuy Energia y Mineria Sociedad del Estado (JEMSE) signed a strategic cooperation agreement on exploration and the product supply.

Analysis of latest tungsten market from Chinatungsten Online

The ferro tungsten and tungsten powder prices in China tungsten market show signs of rise due to the higher forecast prices from Ganzhou Tungsten Association (GTA) and listed companies. Although insiders are not optimistic about the outlook, the supply and demand sides are offering support for the market. 

Rare earth market quotation in China: terbium oxide price continues to rise slightly while prices of europium oxide, neodymium oxide keep stable. Now market transactions are in a stalemate without support from the policy side. 

Molybdenum market quotation in China: sodium molybdate, ammonium heptamolvbdate and ferro molybdenum prices are unchanged from the previous trading day owing to lukewarm demand from the whole industry and heavy wait-and-see atmosphere in the market. 

According to China's Global Times, China announced that it would impose rare earth sanctions on the US arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin for reaching a pre-agreement worth $620 million with Taiwan for repairing and refurbishing PAC-3 missiles. China would cut off the supply of materials, including rare earths, and restricting Lockheed Martin's material suppliers' operations in China.