The Biggest Pure-play Lithium Stock Plans IPO

If making money off “the next big thing” was that simple, everyone would be doing it. Take solar as an example. It’s treated retail investors poorly, despite some phenomenal growth numbers. Then there’s lithium. When we first looked at this investment thesis, we dismissed it because the three major lithium producers only saw a fraction of their revenues tied to lithium. Last time we looked, those small fractions had turned into some big numbers. Now, we’re seeing one of those companies preparing to spin out their lithium production operations in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) that if successful, will provide retail investors access to the largest pure-play lithium stock on the market.

The Six Major Lithium Producers

In order to better understand the lithium market, we first need to understand the players. In 2017, the global supply of all lithium compounds totaled 270,000 metric tons. (Going forward, we’re just going to say “tons” because all you Yanks might get confused if we start using a measurement system that almost every other country in the world uses). The following six producers were responsible for 86% of the 270,000 tons of lithium compound production in 2017 (all market cap numbers in USD):

• FMC (FMC)