Just FYI...
Source: The Australian Financial Review 14 Jan 2026
The rebound in the battery metal is gathering pace, prompting Bell Potter to upgrade its forecasts for 2026.
www.afr.com
Lithium jumps above $US2000 for first time in two years
Grace Lagan Markets reporter
Jan 14, 2026 – 4.14pm
Lithium popped above $US2000 a tonne for the first time in more than two years this week, as the explosive rally in the battery metal extends into the new year, amid soaring demand from electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
Bell Potter is the latest broker to upgrade its outlook for lithium prices. Its analysts upped their share price targets for eight-listed mining companies on the ASX and recommended investors start buying PLS, once the most-targeted stock by short sellers on the local bourse.
The broker already rates Liontown Resources and Mineral Resources a “buy”, but it has increased the target prices of all three stocks by between 15 and 72 per cent. The rebound in lithium prices will help the companies
reactivate mines made idle when prices collapsed a few years ago.
For PLS, which has more than doubled in market value over the past 12 months Bell Potter said “improving lithium market fundamentals” would materially strengthen the company’s earnings outlook and its ability to generate cash.
It added that PLS would also be able to capitalise on the surging lithium demand thanks to its Brazil-based Colina Project that provided an opportunity for low-cost growth. Ramping up supply would allow Australian producers to capitalise on sustained demand for the metal in 2026, according to Barrenjoey.
The broker said it expected ESS battery shipments to soar by 40 per cent this year on the back of greater economic efficiencies in the sector and supportive government policies.
These drivers are “set to sustain into 2026 and the medium term, particularly in regions with higher renewable energy penetration demanding increased ESS capacity for grid stability and reliability”, Barrenjoey wrote in the report.
It added that while industry executives were “optimistic” about the sector, Barrenjoey noted that the growth forecasts were slower than the “remarkable momentum” in battery shipments through 2025.
Even so, growth in ESS capacity
combined with resilient demand for EVs and the ongoing “destocking” in inventories would result in lithium falling into a deficit of 2 per cent to 4 per cent in 2026/27.
KoBold and others...are you listening?
Cheers
F