Lithium miners surge amid US national security waivers
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The news: Lithium miners were among the biggest ASX 200 gainers on Thursday afternoon after US President Donald Trump’s office invoked a national emergency waiver that could benefit Australia-based businesses.
The numbers: At 2:36pm AEST, Mineral Resources was the top performer in the ASX 200, up 12% to $22.60. Large gains were also posted by Pilbara Minerals (up 7.1% to $1.30), IGO (up 5.4% to $4.18) and Liontown Resources (up 4.1% to $0.64).
The context: A presidential waiver for some of the requirements under the Defense Production Act was published overnight in a bid to accelerate the development of critical minerals projects.
The benefits of grants, loans and contracts issued under the act could benefit Australian businesses because the country was added to the Defense Production Act’s definition of a ‘domestic source’ under US President Joe Biden.
The act gives the US president powers to control domestic industries and resources during national emergencies.
This is usually subject to constraints, such as seeking congressional approval for actions that would cost more than USD50 million ($77 million), but these have now been waived for some sectors.
The waiver document, published overnight, states that “action is necessary to increase production capacity of munitions, missiles and associated equipment, and minerals and that shortfalls in these areas would severely impair national defense capability".
China, which dominates the lithium supply chain, introduced export restrictions for lithium processing and refining technologies in February.
ASX-listed lithium miners were caught in a selloff last week amid a dim outlook for lithium prices due to global oversupply.
