Bloomberg Pilbara Minerals Ltd, one of Australia’s biggest lithium producers, plans to build a demonstration plant in Western Australia capable of refining the material that’s key to the booming global battery metals market. The pilot plant would process Pilbara Minerals’ hard-rock ore into lithium salt near the company’s Pilgangoora Project in Western Australia, in a joint venture with Australia’s ...

  Bloomberg South Korean house prices recorded the biggest decline in nine years as the central bank’s 16-month tightening cycle weighs on the property market, adding to credit concerns for policy makers. Nationwide home prices dropped 0.32% in November from a year earlier, while Seoul slid 0.12%, according to data from Kookmin Bank. South Korean surveyors tend to count the ...

  Bloomberg Pakistan has halted payments for in-app purchases including online video games bought by local customers using airtime from telecommunications companies, the latest sign of distress caused by the country’s depleted foreign-exchange reserves. Telecom service providers were violating regulations by allowing payments to be made for customers under an arrangement with the government that permitted the phone companies to ...