Chris Berry: There Are Some Enormously Cheap Opportunities in Lithium Right Now

At this year’s Benchmark Minerals Week’s Cathodes conference in Newport Beach, the Investing News Network had the chance to catch up with Chris Berry, founder of House Mountain Partners.

Earlier this year, a report released by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) predicting an oversupply in the market, set the tone for lithium investing in 2018, scaring a lot of speculative capital away from the sector, Berry said.

“[The other big challenge this year] was this obsessive and unnecessary focus on the China price, which is really inconsequential,” Berry added.

He suggested investors should not be looking at short-term prices, but instead should look at certain amount of months or quarters to get a sense of where things are going.

“Instead of looking at prices and trying to guess where it is going to go […] look instead at the lithium cost curve,” he added.

Berry also talked about how share prices have performed, saying that it is the first time in many years that he has seen this big disconnect between stocks and the demand forecast.

“I’ve not seen any data showing that demand is reversing or slowing down, if anything, it seems the demand narrative is only getting stronger,” he said.

When looking back at 2018, the expert believes this year will be seen as the year where valuations reset because “there are some enormously cheap opportunities in the lithium space right now.”

Berry also shared his insight on the recent IPOs from Livent (NYSE:LTHM), a spin off of FMC (NYSE:FMC), and Ganfeng (SHE:002460).

Listen to the interview above for more insight from Berry, including his thoughts on lithium IPOs, new battery technology and factors to watch in the lithium sector next year. You can also click here to listen to our full Benchmark Minerals Week’s interviews playlist on YouTube.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in contributed article. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.