SANTIAGO, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Chilean miner SQM SQMB.SN stated it continued to spice up gross sales
SANTIAGO, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Chilean miner SQM SQMB.SN stated it continued to spice up gross sales of lithium whilst low costs battered earnings, prompting the world’s No. 2 producer of the electrical automobile battery metallic to announce an additional enlargement by 2023.
SQM stated it had bought 17,700 tonnes of lithium within the third quarter, up 56% from the identical interval the earlier 12 months.
The corporate stated in a press release asserting its quarterly outcomes that it might probably promote 30% extra lithium in 2020 than in 2019, and promised an analogous leap in gross sales in 2021.
Lithium miners boosted output final 12 months in anticipation of a requirement rush from carmakers going into 2020, however the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the brakes on the electrical automobile revolution, denting earnings and forcing many corporations to shelve enlargement plans.
SQM´s web revenue plunged 97% year-on-year to $1.7 million within the quarter, dragged down by low costs and a one-time, $62.5 million settlement charge in a category motion lawsuit.
Nonetheless, the corporate stated its present plans to spice up its manufacturing of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide – two of its key merchandise – by the second half of 2021 remained on observe.
Sturdy gross sales and a restoration in China had underpinned a choice to ramp up manufacturing capability even additional, to 180,000 and 30,000 metric tonnes of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, respectively, by 2023, the corporate stated.
“All of this, once more, with decrease brine extraction,” stated CEO Ricardo Ramos in a press release late on Wednesday.
The miner, lengthy below scrutiny for its environmental practices, in October introduced plans to slash its use of each recent water and lithium-rich brine on the Atacama salt flat, a part of a broader sustainability drive.
The corporate stated it would spend $1.three billion on a variety of Chile initiatives between 2021 and 2024.
(Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Enhancing by Kim Coghill)
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