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regulatory saga continues as further scrutiny of Atacama operations expected","sqms-regulatory-saga-continues-as-further-scrutiny-of-atacama-operations-expected","article/sqms-regulatory-saga-continues-as-further-scrutiny-of-atacama-operations-expected",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":652,"featured":50,"reporter":653,"_editable":657,"component":658,"seo_title":553,"categories":659,"visibility":663,"author_company":49,"featured_image":664,"seo_description":652,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":669,"formattedArticleDate":670},"a7100c5d-0e7c-44d9-a796-c8fdd333803c","2020-08-20 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":567},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,580,585,590,595,600,605,612,617,622,627,632,637,642,647],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577],{"text":578,"type":579},"SQM’s regulatory problems have re-emerged as Chile’s Environmental Superintendent (SMA) withdrew from the legal actions at the country’s supreme court to defend SQM’s $25 million environmental compliance plan, in order to pursue a for a more comprehensive initiative.","text",{"type":574,"attrs":581,"content":582},{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":579},"The SMA had initially accepted SQM’s plan in December 2019 but this was blocked by the regional First Environmental Court of Antofagasta. In response the SMA had announced plans to defend SQM’s compliance plan in the country’s supreme court. However, the SMA’s latest decision sees it renege on its previous stance, forcing SQM back to the drawing board.",{"type":574,"attrs":586,"content":587},{"textAlign":49},[588],{"text":589,"type":579},"SQM has plans in place to expand its operations in the Atacama, which Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast shows 55,400 tonnes of production in 2019, from 70,000 tonnes nameplate capacity to 120,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.",{"type":574,"attrs":591,"content":592},{"textAlign":49},[593],{"text":594,"type":579},"The company had been targeting completion of these expansions in H2 2021, but with the latest developments we expect the timelines of these expansions to be further delayed. Benchmark does not expect SQM’s current production to be affected by the decision.",{"type":574,"attrs":596,"content":597},{"textAlign":49},[598],{"text":599,"type":579},"Discussing the SMA’s decision and what that means for SQM, Benchmark’s Jose Hofer, Senior Analyst – Forecasting, based in Santiago, explained: “A stricter compliance plan might trigger new enforcement actions for SQM, but only to Salar de Atacama operations. However, the bottleneck today for the expansions lies in the chemical plant in Salar del Carmen, closer to Antofagasta. The reason behind that is the way lithium chloride production has been set up in Salar de Atacama. Today SQM continues to expand capacity in Salar del Carmen in line with a more aggressive strategy despite current market conditions.”",{"type":574,"attrs":601,"content":602},{"textAlign":49},[603],{"text":604,"type":579},"Hofer added, “the permit to ramp up capacity to 180,000 tpa in Salar del Carmen was approved in 2019, which is quite positive. However, the Chilean environmental regulator is becoming increasingly strict. Not only in terms of enforcement, but in terms of granting new permits. The withdrawal from the legal actions at the supreme court by the SMA also involves the participation of new government actors and the review of environmental compliance plans by other mining operations in the region.”",{"type":606,"attrs":607,"content":609},"heading",{"level":608,"textAlign":49},4,[610],{"text":611,"type":579},"Chile’s difficult regulatory environment",{"type":574,"attrs":613,"content":614},{"textAlign":49},[615],{"text":616,"type":579},"The latest decision from the SMA reflects the historical regulatory difficulties which have affected both SQM and Albemarle’s expansion plans in the region.",{"type":574,"attrs":618,"content":619},{"textAlign":49},[620],{"text":621,"type":579},"Prior to SQM’s environmental dispute with the SMA it had been involved in a dispute with state development agency Corfo over lease payment fees. SQM and Corfo had been engaged in arbitration proceedings from Q2 2014 until January 2018, during which time SQM could not increase its production quota, ultimately limiting its expansion plans.",{"type":574,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625],{"text":626,"type":579},"Albemarle has also previously clashed with Corfo, beginning in July 2018, over domestic pricing outlined in the terms of Albemarle’s 2016 expansion agreement with the agency. The two parties agreed a deal in January 2019, which saw them ultimately avoid arbitration, but the dispute saw Albemarle’s expansion plans temporarily put on hold.",{"type":574,"attrs":628,"content":629},{"textAlign":49},[630],{"text":631,"type":579},"Chilean lithium from the Atacama remains low-cost, but the political and regulatory uncertainty outlined above has slowed Chilean brine expansions while supply diversification into hard rock sources elsewhere has grown. There have been expansions for both brine and hard rock projects, most of this growth has come from hard rock production, which saw Australia’s production increase by 2.7x between 2015 and 2019 compared with Chile’s, which grew by 1.4x as shown in Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast.",{"type":606,"attrs":633,"content":634},{"level":608,"textAlign":49},[635],{"text":636,"type":579},"The Atacama’s environmental question",{"type":574,"attrs":638,"content":639},{"textAlign":49},[640],{"text":641,"type":579},"The SMA’s decision could be viewed as a victory by the First Environmental Court of Antofagasta, however, Benchmark understands it represents a wider effort from the SMA to build a comprehensive plan, in collaboration with other government agencies, to focus on operations of other raw material producers in the Atacama. The decision will therefore also likely see Albemarle face increased scrutiny, as the other lithium major operating in the region.",{"type":574,"attrs":643,"content":644},{"textAlign":49},[645],{"text":646,"type":579},"SQM’s environmental battle has been ongoing since 2016, when the company was sanctioned for environmental infringements relating to brine-flow at its operations in the Atacama. Since then the company has been working on its now-rejected $25 million compliance plan. The plan proposed a number of additional responsibilities for SQM, including increasing its hydrogeological monitoring systems and wells and bringing in to play a remediation plan.",{"type":574,"attrs":648,"content":649},{"textAlign":49},[650],{"text":651,"type":579},"Away from Chile’s regulatory agencies, there is a wider focus on sustainability in the battery supply chains from OEMs — as illustrated by Elon Musk’s recent plea for environmentally sensitive nickel. Major OEMs’ sustainability concerns also extend to water usage in the Atacama as in Q1 this year it was reported that German automakers Daimler and Volkswagen had launched studies looking into the sustainability of lithium mining in Chile.","SQM’s regulatory problems have re-emerged as Chile’s Environmental Superintendent (SMA) withdrew from the legal actions at the country’s supreme court to defend SQM’s $25 million environmental compliance plan, in order to pursue a for a more comprehensive initiative. The SMA had initially accepted SQM’s plan in December 2019 but this was blocked by the regional […]",[654],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":655},{"job_title":565,"image":656,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"a7100c5d-0e7c-44d9-a796-c8fdd333803c\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[660],{"slug":661,"name":662},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":665,"name":665,"focus":665,"title":665,"source":665,"filename":666,"copyright":665,"fieldtype":667,"meta_data":668,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/1850e044f1/bm-sqms-regulatory-headache-continues.jpg","asset",{"alt":665,"title":665,"source":665,"copyright":665},"Aug 20, 2020","20th August 2020",[],[],1792773939400]