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ReGIoNAl RouNDuP Chile is hoping its vast lithium reserves will entice Asian and

European groups to build battery facilities within its borders

Chile taps China, Japan in

lithium-for-tech push

hile is making a renewed push for Chile’s investment and development lithium reserves, with both SQM and US-
Cbattery technology investment in agencies InvestChile and CORFO held based Albemarle, the world’s top pro-
return for access to its lithium deposits, events in China, France, Japan and ducer, extracting the coveted metal from
piquing interest from China, Japan and South Korea this year to drum up inter- bright blue brine pools on the desert’s
Europe as global firms look to tie up sup- est. They say issues from the first auc- vast white salt flats.
ply of the metal vital for the shift to electric tion have since been resolved. However, a Reuters investigation in
vehicles. The roadshows attracted interest in July found Chile has struggled to capital-
The South American country, the China from dozens of firms, including ise fully on the tenders, failing to make
world’s No.2 lithium producer, has held China Development Bank, energy firm clear both how much lithium it could pro-
global roadshows ahead of a second lith- TBEA, chemicals giant Sinochem and vide, as well as how deeply it would be
ium-for-investment tender, according to aluminum miner Chinalco, the document discounted.
officials and Chilean government docu- dated August 29 showed. Chilean producers currently export
ments seen by Reuters. Japanese banks and miners, South mostly unrefined lithium, not the high-
These have attracted dozens of firms Korea’s overseas infrastructure body, er-value battery parts Chile hopes will
in China, Japanese battery makers like Belgium’s Umicore and French trans- someday generate added earnings for its
Toshiba Corp and Russia’s state nuclear portation conglomerate Bollore attended export-oriented economy.
agency Rosatom, the documents show, other global shows, an official for In- Despite the renewed interest, the ad-
lured by potential access to Chile’s huge vestChile confirmed. ministration of centre-right President
deposits of the “white gold” under the A statement from Rosatom Group con- Sebastian Pinera has tempered expecta-
arid salt flats in the Atacama Desert. firmed its companies were weighing their tions for this second round.
An auction – slated for early 2020 – of- options in Chile. Falling lithium prices and Chile’s dis-
fers a guaranteed supply of discounted “Rosatom’s organisations are still con- tance from consumer markets increase
Chilean lithium in exchange for a commit- sidering Chile as a potential partner for costs and make it difficult to entice for-
ment to build battery parts plants in Chile implementation of lithium projects and eign manufacturers.
as the Government looks to move up the supporting local government’s initiatives Pablo Terrazas, head of the Corfo de-
value chain. aimed to attract foreign companies to velopment agency, which oversees the
Oversupply and plummeting lithium participate in joint projects in this area,” auction, told lawmakers the offered deal
prices, however, have made the deal a it said. was perhaps not as sweet as anticipated.
tough sell. In a previous tender in 2018, Bollore declined to comment, as did “If the battery-making companies are
all three winners, including electronics Japan’s Toshiba, with spokesman Ryoji not interested... we can’t obligate them to
giant Samsung SDI and Korean steel- Shinohara adding: “We are not disclos- set up in Chile,” he told lawmakers. “This
maker Posco, subsequently dropped out. ing business-related information, includ- can still succeed or fail.”
“I don’t see this ending any better than ing participation in such roadshows, un- Terrazas said he hoped to entice com-
the previous auction,” Chilean lithium less an official decision is made.” panies that make parts for batteries used
consultant Jaime Alee said. Having ad- The China Development Bank, TBEA, in tools, electric scooters and storage
vised foreign investors in Chile, he not- Sinochem, Chinalco and Umicore did not devices.
ed that the global trend was for supply respond to requests for comment. “We started out wanting to sell the
chains closer to home. Chinese interest in Chilean lithium in most sophisticated batteries to the likes
“Given this, I just don’t see the logic in particular has grown as the Asian giant of BMW or Volkswagen. But I think we
installing [a plant] in Chile.” ramps up production of EVs. Last year, need to go little by little... and work our
Nonetheless, Chile’s huge deposits are China’s Tianqi clinched a $US4 billion way up,” he said.
a lure amid a sharpening race to lock in deal to purchase a quarter stake in top
supplies, which will be key to a future of Chilean lithium miner SQM. – Dave Sherwood and Natalia A.
electrified transport and smart devices. Chile is home to half of the world’s Ramos Miranda, Reuters

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