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update: what is happening to South America’s lithium industry?","coronavirus-update-what-is-happening-to-south-americas-lithium-industry","article/coronavirus-update-what-is-happening-to-south-americas-lithium-industry",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":642,"featured":50,"reporter":643,"_editable":647,"component":648,"seo_title":553,"categories":649,"visibility":653,"author_company":49,"featured_image":654,"seo_description":642,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":659,"formattedArticleDate":660},"c6c12428-40eb-4fca-9cdd-70956e623cc4","2020-03-27 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":567},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,580,587,592,597,602,607,612,617,622,627,632,637],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577],{"text":578,"type":579},"The coronavirus pandemic is developing rapidly, with the fallout of the virus now affecting all aspects of the lithium ion supply chain to varying extents. The past week has seen a surge in cases in South America and both key lithium producers Chile and Argentina — responsible for 26% and 10%, respectively, of global supply in 2019 according to data from the Benchmark Minerals Lithium Forecast — have started to feel the effects.","text",{"type":581,"attrs":582,"content":584},"heading",{"level":583,"textAlign":49},4,[585],{"text":586,"type":579},"Argentina on lockdown, lithium production temporarily suspended",{"type":574,"attrs":588,"content":589},{"textAlign":49},[590],{"text":591,"type":579},"In Argentina, the actions taken by the government of Alberto Fernandez from March 20 through March 31 has seen the country effectively locked down. During this time, all Argentines must stay in their homes and may only leave when necessary for necessities.",{"type":574,"attrs":593,"content":594},{"textAlign":49},[595],{"text":596,"type":579},"Lithium production within Argentina has therefore been stopped until at least March 31, with both Livent’s Salar del Hombre Muerto and Orocobre’s Olaroz operations suspended. With the pressures from coronavirus, Benchmark Minerals’ Lithium Forecast is now expecting Livent’s revised output to be 19,500 tonnes and Orocobre’s 11,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, both falling short of 2019 production figures.",{"type":574,"attrs":598,"content":599},{"textAlign":49},[600],{"text":601,"type":579},"The coronavirus has also prompted expansion cutbacks, and in response to the pandemic Livent has decided to suspend all capital expansions globally. In the same line, Orocobre suspended all development operations related to its Stage 2 Expansion.",{"type":574,"attrs":603,"content":604},{"textAlign":49},[605],{"text":606,"type":579},"An additional problem facing Argentian producers is the logistical issue arising from its border with Chile, which remains closed. This is particularly important to the supply chain as Argentinian lithium chemicals are shipped through Chile.",{"type":574,"attrs":608,"content":609},{"textAlign":49},[610],{"text":611,"type":579},"Development stage companies are also facing pressures in Argentina. Lithium Americas announced that that construction activities at the Cauchari-Olaroz lithium project were temporarily suspended. According to the company, the suspension of construction may impact the company’s previous estimate for completion of construction by early 2021.",{"type":574,"attrs":613,"content":614},{"textAlign":49},[615],{"text":616,"type":579},"The lockdown and the wider economic fallout from the virus could also affect a number of developments across Argentina. There are over 15 development stage projects that will have to temporarily slow down development of their projects as part of Argentina’s efforts to stop the virus. These projects will  be affected in the near-term but in the longer-term, any economic slowdown could make it more difficult to secure financing.",{"type":581,"attrs":618,"content":619},{"level":583,"textAlign":49},[620],{"text":621,"type":579},"Lithium production continues in Chile ",{"type":574,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625],{"text":626,"type":579},"Regarding Chile’s lithium industry, neither Albemarle or SQM have so far halted operations. Ports are operating as normal and so far only a small proportion of the cases are located in the Antofagasta Region. For SQM, around 25% of their exports are headed to China; another 25% to Korea and 23% to Japan. So, the importance of those destinations having a safe and functional supply chains is significant. In the case of Albemarle, around 36% of their exports go to Korea.",{"type":574,"attrs":628,"content":629},{"textAlign":49},[630],{"text":631,"type":579},"As of Wednesday March 25th, the number of positive tested cases in Chile was approximately 1,140 people, which is almost five times the numbers only a week ago. The Chilean government took 12 days after the first confirmed case to close educational centers and 13 days to close international airports. In that sense, the government has acted fast compared with some European countries and the US.",{"type":574,"attrs":633,"content":634},{"textAlign":49},[635],{"text":636,"type":579},"At a regional level, due to the rapid propagation of the virus, some municipalities have started with anticipated lockdowns (there have been seven so far). This is a preventive measure but eventually a total lockdown of the metropolitan region is expected to take place.",{"type":574,"attrs":638,"content":639},{"textAlign":49},[640],{"text":641,"type":579},"Even without a wider lockdown, Chilean operations will likely face logistical challenges as shipping could be affected and also the availability of reagents for processing could also become an issue as supply chains slowdown.","The coronavirus pandemic is developing rapidly, with the fallout of the virus now affecting all aspects of the lithium ion supply chain to varying extents. The past week has seen a surge in cases in South America and both key lithium producers Chile and Argentina — responsible for 26% and 10%, respectively, of global supply […]",[644],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":645},{"job_title":565,"image":646,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"c6c12428-40eb-4fca-9cdd-70956e623cc4\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[650],{"slug":651,"name":652},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":655,"name":655,"focus":655,"title":655,"source":655,"filename":656,"copyright":655,"fieldtype":657,"meta_data":658,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/7ccf211e3b/bm-sqm-benchmark.png","asset",{"alt":655,"title":655,"source":655,"copyright":655},"Mar 27, 2020","27th March 2020",[],[],1789748877336]