By Fabian Cambero SANTIAGO, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Chile's SQM
By Fabian Cambero
SANTIAGO, Dec 22 (Reuters) – Chile’s SQM stated on Tuesday it had inked a long-term settlement with LG Power Answer to provide the South Korean battery maker with ultralight steel lithium, a most important ingredient in powering electrical autos.
SQM, the world’s No.2 producer of lithium, stated the contract would run between 2021 and 2029 and entails the availability of roughly 55,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equal, SQM SQMB.SN stated in an announcement.
Pablo Altimiras, who oversees SQM’s lithium enterprise, stated the deal demonstrated confidence within the high quality of the corporate’s product.
“These are long-term contracts that time to SQM’s stability,” Altimiras stated, including that the corporate would proceed looking for out such offers sooner or later.
South Korea’s LG Chem 051910.KS, an electrical automotive battery provider for Tesla Inc and GM, stated in September that it will separate its battery making enterprise into a brand new firm – LG Power Answer – to satisfy rising demand from European automotive makers and rising gross sales of cylindrical batteries utilized in Tesla vehicles.
Automotive and battery makers in the US, Europe and China are scrambling to lock down provides of lithium forward of an anticipated increase in demand for electrical autos.
Many miners had moved to spice up output forward of the frenzy, however the COVID-19 pandemic largely quickly slammed the brakes on the electrical car revolution, driving down costs, denting earnings and forcing many firms to shelve enlargement plans.
In November, SQM nonetheless stated its plans to spice up its manufacturing of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide by the second half of 2021 have been nonetheless on observe.
SQM additionally plans to extend its manufacturing capability to 180,000 and 30,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, respectively, by 2023.
(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; writing by Aislinn Laing and Dave Sherwood; enhancing by Jason Neely and Grant McCool)
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