Already the second largest producer in the world, Chile wants to weigh even more on the Lithium market. To do this, the country intends to double its production of this strategically important metal in the next five years, the government said on Wednesday.
A production of 250,000 tonnes per year
Chile, which currently provides 29% of the world's lithium supply, wants to achieve within this timeframe an annual supply of 250,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), said Baldo Prokurica, Chilean Minister of Mines. He presented a report entitled "Lithium Market Outlook in 2030" prepared by the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco).
Chile hopes that in the coming years the value of its exports "will be similar to that of highly consolidated economic sectors such as the wine sector", in which it is the world's fourth largest exporter, said Baldo Prokurica.
A very concentrated market
The Lithium supply is particularly concentrated. Australia is currently the world's largest producer with 48% of world production. Metal is an essential element for the electric car industry and the manufacture of rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops and tablets.
Chile extracts it at the Salar de Atacama site, in the North, one of the richest lithium deposits in the world, where it is exploited by the Chilean firm SQM (Sociedad Quimica y Minera) and by the American company Albermarle.
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