The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price is under pressure on Thursday morning.
In morning trade, the lithium miner's shares are down 1.5% to $2.32.
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Pilbara Minerals share price falling?
Investors have been selling down the Pilbara Minerals share price this morning following the release of the company's latest lithium auction update.
According to the release, the company has recorded its first decline in lithium price received since the battery materials exchange (BMX) auctions began.
Last month, Pilbara Minerals advised that it had accepted a pre-auction offer of US$6,350 per dry metric tonne (dmt) on a 5.5% lithia basis for 5,000dmt. This was a new record high and equates to an approximate price of US$7,017 per dmt on a 6% lithia basis.
What's the latest?
Today's update reveals that Pilbara Minerals received strong interest in both participation and bidding by a broad range of qualified buyers with a total of 41 bids received online during the 30-minute auction window.
However, despite this strong interest, the price received from its BMX auction has edged lower for the first time.
The company advised that it intends to accept the highest bid of US$6,188 per dmt on a 5.5% lithia basis for another 5,000dmt cargo of the lithium for delivery in late August. This equates to a price of ~US$6,841 per dmt on a 6% lithium basis, which is down 2.5% month on month.
Investors may believe this is a sign that lithium prices have now peaked.
Though, it is worth remembering that this is still materially higher than this time last year. As a result, this bodes well for Pilbara Minerals' cash flow generation and bottom line.
