The Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) share price struggled through June despite the company releasing plenty of good news.
Sadly, however, a broader lithium sell-off event took its toll on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lithium share.
As of the final close of June, the Liontown share price was $1.06, 25.35% lower than where it ended May.
For context, the ASX 200 slipped 8.9% in June while the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) slumped 12.4%.
Let’s take a look at what went wrong (and right) for Liontown last month.
What weighed on the Liontown share price last month?
First off, the company shook on an agreement with electric vehicle heavyweight Tesla.
Telsa has agreed to buy up to 150,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of spodumene concentrate expected to be produced at Liontown’s upcoming Kathleen Valley Lithium Project each year.
That marked the second offtake agreement for the project, and a third wasn’t far away.
Later in June, Liontown announced Ford also agreed to take up to 150,000 dmt of the project’s production each year.
On the back of the agreements, Liontown made the final investment decision for the project, allowing construction at the site to kick off. First production at the project is expected in the second quarter of 2024.
But the exciting announcements weren’t enough to spare the Liontown share price from a major downturn among its peers.
ASX lithium shares were rocked by a sell-off event in early June, seemingly sparked by a bearish note out of Goldman Sachs, an Argentinian reference price, and reports a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer was planning to source its own lithium.
The Liontown share price tumbled 19% on 1 June. It then continued on a general downwards trajectory for much of last month.
