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Why are lithium prices collapsing?

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Re: Why are lithium prices collapsing?

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing happens with the gas stove threads. I can’t believe that actual people are that invested in burning hydrocarbons.

For serious chefs, gas ranges remain far superior to their electric counterparts. I’ll be the first in line to buy an induction cooktop that performs as well as a high end gas range, but we’re not there yet.

what aspect of performance are they missing?

Re: Why are lithium prices collapsing?

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing happens with the gas stove threads. I can’t believe that actual people are that invested in burning hydrocarbons.

For serious chefs, gas ranges remain far superior to their electric counterparts. I’ll be the first in line to buy an induction cooktop that performs as well as a high end gas range, but we’re not there yet.

[deleted]

Re: Why are lithium prices collapsing?

#123
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing happens with the gas stove threads. I can’t believe that actual people are that invested in burning hydrocarbons.

[flagged]

Know of someone that paid money to have his seatbelt systems become non-functional basically. Basically yes - they hate being told what to do and will rebel harder. So maybe for these folks we should have a campaign to use even more fossil fuels because there’s so many of them and they disproportionately cause social issues to begin with (the man is directly responsible for many, many ruined lives with his toxic personality, including his own children).

Re: Why are lithium prices collapsing?

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing happens with the gas stove threads. I can’t believe that actual people are that invested in burning hydrocarbons.

For serious chefs, gas ranges remain far superior to their electric counterparts. I’ll be the first in line to buy an induction cooktop that performs as well as a high end gas range, but we’re not there yet.

For home use, induction is far superior. More intense heat, less heating the room, no fumes, much easier to clean, etc etc etc

Re: Why are lithium prices collapsing?

#125
post #62

Lithium Triangle[1]. "a region of the Andes that is rich in lithium reserves, encompassed by the borders of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile.[1] The lithium in the triangle is concentrated in various salt pans that exist along the Atacama Desert and neighboring arid areas, the largest areas including Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, Salar de Atacama in Chile, and Salar del Hombre Muerto in Argentina. The area is thought to ho…

A huge factor is accessibility of reserves. Often new discoveries are so remote and inaccessible that they are completely unrealistic to be producing within the next 10/20 years. I think both Iran and Argentina fall into this category.

Re: Why are lithium prices collapsing?

#126
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing happens with the gas stove threads. I can’t believe that actual people are that invested in burning hydrocarbons.

[flagged]

I bet some of it also like, ok you’re banning gas stoves that I like cooking on but everybody owning a Ford F-850 and private jets are still cool (from an environmental perspective)? Seems like a spending a few bucks to save a few pennys kind of scenario.

The health argument is fair but seems like it shouldn’t be a mandatory requirement so much as a safety warning (based on my current understanding).

The fact that we are even talking about it I guess served the original goal which was to distract from other, larger problems and discussions.

Re: Why are lithium prices collapsing?

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For serious chefs, gas ranges remain far superior to their electric counterparts. I’ll be the first in line to buy an induction cooktop that performs as well as a high end gas range, but we’re not there yet.

what aspect of performance are they missing?

Two big use cases:

1) Wok cooking, can’t use a round bottomed wok easily or create “wok hei”. Though you can also do it with a blowtorch: https://www.seriouseats.com/hei-now-youre-a-wok-star-a-fiery...

2) Causing childhood asthma. Gotta employ all those healthcare workers somehow…

Re: Why are lithium prices collapsing?

#128
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But there's a material difference between "attempting, in good faith, to determine what the demand for a commodity will be in the future, and buying based on that" and "attempting to determine what the price of a commodity on the futures market will be and buying based on that". When people say that a commodity's price is being driven by speculation and gambling, they mean that it has shifted from the former to the l…

>But there's a material difference between "attempting, in good faith, to determine what the demand for a commodity will be in the future, and buying based on that" and "attempting to determine what the price of a commodity on the futures market will be and buying based on that". These are indistinguishable. Unless you want to restrict markets to being only between suppliers and consumers, there will always be middle…

Of course there's a difference. It's based on information asymmetry, i.e. the 'greater fool' theory. When the information asymmetry is deliberately created, that's being done in bad faith, and is the sort of thing we call fraud when done on an individual level. It often feels like a great deal of our corporate and financial machinery are designed around diffusing actions that would be criminal, or reprehensible if done person to person, in order to allow them to be done at scale without consequence.

Re: Why are lithium prices collapsing?

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But there's a material difference between "attempting, in good faith, to determine what the demand for a commodity will be in the future, and buying based on that" and "attempting to determine what the price of a commodity on the futures market will be and buying based on that". These are indistinguishable. Unless you want to restrict markets to being only between suppliers and consumers, there will always be middle…

Of course there's a difference. It's based on information asymmetry, i.e. the 'greater fool' theory. When the information asymmetry is deliberately created, that's being done in bad faith, and is the sort of thing we call fraud when done on an individual level. It often feels like a great deal of our corporate and financial machinery are designed around diffusing actions that would be criminal, or reprehensible if do…

> When the information asymmetry is deliberately created, that's being done in bad faith, and is the sort of thing we call fraud when done on an individual level.

What information asymmetry? The previous comments referred to speculators betting on price movements.

Deliberately creating fraudulent information asymmetry would be altering data in industry reports and publishing false manufacture/consumption data. Which, I assume, is illegal.

Re: Why are lithium prices collapsing?

#130
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally have an impression, that commodity prices are a function of shocks. Gas prices in Europe, uranium prices in mid 2000s, lithium due to sudden EV demand, etc. World then adjusts, and prices "collapse" or rather stabilize. Basically, don't buy commodities when the price is high.

That always bugs me when these things are reported. Something goes up 30% in a year due to speculation and/or supply chain shocks, and then drops by 5% and it's "prices crash!" No it's still up ~25% year on year.

For lithium, it was ~300% up in a year and back to original price in a few months.
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