Why is the Liontown share price tumbling 5% today?

Liontown's shares are ending the week in the red…

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A male investor wearing a blue shirt looks off to the side with a miffed look on his face as the share price declines.

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The Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) share price certainly isn't roaring today.

In morning trade, the lithium developer's shares are down 5% to $1.73.

Why is the Liontown share price falling?

The Liontown share price is tumbling on Friday despite there being no news out of the company.

However, it is worth noting that Liontown isn't the only lithium share that is trading lower today. In fact, the lithium industry is a sea of red today.

Fellow lithium shares Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE), Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO), and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) are all down by similar margins at the time of writing.

What is driving the selling?

The catalyst for the selling appears to have been a poor night of trade on Wall Street for higher risk shares.

In addition, lithium giant SQM saw its shares lose 8% of their value last night. This followed news that it will be spending US$1.5 billion to cut its extraction of brine in half by 2030.

According to Reuters, SQM's Salar Futuro plan will modernise its process of evaporation and brine extraction, improve operating yields, and adopt the use of seawater via a desalination plant.

This follows a commitment made in 2020 in response to criticism over its brine usage to make a 50% reduction in the brine it pumps to mine lithium in the vast Atacama salt flat in northern Chilean.

Though, given that Liontown's Kathleen Valley Lithium Project is in Western Australia and doesn't use brine, this development seems unlikely to have any impact on it.

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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