Chile unveils plans to nationalise vast lithium industry

| Chile’s President Gabriel Boric said on Thursday he would nationalise the country’s lithium industry, the world’s second-largest producer of the metal essential in electric vehicle batteries, to boost its economy and protect its environment.

The left-leaning government would not terminate current contracts, but hoped companies would be open to state participation before they expire, he said, without naming Albemarle and SQM, the world’s top two lithium producers. SQM’s contract is set to expire in 2030 and Albemarle’s in 2043. The announcement by Chile did not trigger a reversal in lithium prices, which have plunged more than 70 per cent since November due to weakening EV demand in China, the world’s biggest auto-market.

The Boric government plans to set up a lithium institute and is promoting downstream investments to capture more of the EV boom rather than just sending semi-processed material to Chinese and Korean plants. This week, China’s BYD was granted access to preferential prices to make battery-grade lithium carbonate at a plant scheduled to begin operations by end-2025.

“If a public-private company is created to exploit lithium in the Atacama salt flats, it will be controlled by the state through Codelco,” Mr Boric said.

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