The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price is pushing higher on Thursday.
In morning trade, the lithium miner's shares are up 3% to $5.10.
Why is the Pilbara Minerals share price pushing higher?
Investors have been bidding the Pilbara Minerals share price higher today after the company released the results of its latest spodumene concentrate auction.
According to the release, the auction, which was held on its digital Battery Material Exchange (BMX), commanded a price that was higher than what it received last month. That's despite recent speculation that demand was cooling for the battery making ingredient in the key China market.
Pilbara Minerals revealed that another cargo of 5,000dmt of spodumene concentrate at a target grade of ~5.5% lithia was presented for sale on the digital platform and received a winning bid of US$7,805/dmt (SC5.5, FOB Port Hedland basis).
This is the equivalent of ~US$8,575/dmt (SC6.0, CIF China basis).
How does this compare to last month?
As a comparison, the second BMX auction of October received a winning bid of US$7,255/dmt (SC5.5, FOB Port Hedland basis), which was the equivalent of ~US$8,000/dmt on an SC6.0 CIF China basis.
This means that Pilbara Minerals' spodumene has increased in value by 7.2% since the last auction.
Judging by the Pilbara Minerals share price performance today, this appears to have eased concerns that lithium prices will be heading sharply lower in the near term from softening demand.
