SQM Analyzes the Challenges of the New Global Business Paradigm

Challenges and Progress in Industry Sustainability was the name of the event that delved into public policies, high value-added lithium production, climate change and sustainable models. The event culminated with a panel that addressed the relevance of innovation and public-private partnerships to move towards a regional development that is in keeping with the current global agenda. This agenda points to a new business paradigm that seeks to measure its impacts on environmental, social and governance issues.

SQM highlighted that so far in 2022 it has contributed more than US$3.6 billion to the State. Of this contribution, 64% of this represents US$2.3 billion, which is part of the CORFO contract and is a consequence of the company’s strong investment over the last three years, which allowed it to triple the production of high-value refined lithium, using fewer natural resources.

This was confirmed by Gonzalo Guerrero, Chairman of the Board of SQM, who said, “This contribution that we are making in the first nine months of this year currently makes us the company that contributes the most to the country. We understand that this is more than a duty, it is a conviction for our company, which moves us to engage in an associative relationship with our surroundings and communities, which must be transparent regarding the environmental impact of our operations.”

Gonzalo Muñoz was the first COP High-Level Climate Action Champion and leader of Race to Zero, a global campaign supported by the UN to promote the reduction of emissions by 2030. He gave a keynote talk that included topics associated with climate change and the importance of promoting sustainability policies in the private sector, which already show progress in implementing decarbonization dynamics.

“SQM, which is also a member of the Global Race To Zero campaign, is not only capable of contributing with the product required for industries to decarbonize, but also, like other global companies, it is capable as an organization to ask questions about how it can do this better and how to make this product attain the goal of entering a battery that replaces fossil fuels, leaving the greatest possible value in the territory and throughout the country through the contributions made by the country,” said the expert.

During the event, Carlos Díaz, SQM’s Lithium Business Vice President, referred to the implementation of the Salar Futuro sustainable innovation project, which involves an investment of around US$1.5 billion. “We aim to reduce and attain neutrality in the use of water by the end of this decade in Salar de Atacama, in addition to reducing our carbon footprint, through the implementation of a technological change with new processes of forced operation and direct lithium extraction,” said the executive.