-- Chile, home to the world’s largest lithium reserves, says Japanese battery and metals companies are among Asian investors interested in acquiring long-term preferential access to the ingredient, in exchange for adding value to the raw material and transferring skills.A heavyweight in the mining world, Chile wants to woo companies that can help it develop processing and manufacturing capabilities. In April, it granted Chinese EV maker BYD Co.
Following meetings with Sumitomo Corp., Mitsui & Co. and Sojitz Corp., among others involved in the battery and EV supply chain, Grau said Japanese companies were “quite interested” in investing. Chile, the biggest copper-producing nation and No. 2 lithium supplier, has sought to make the most of booming battery-material demand, but it’s occasionally rattled markets. A plan announced earlier this year by the Boric government outlined proposals for the state to take a controlling stake in lithium operations considered strategically significant, with twin goals of boosting output and making extraction more sustainable.