Esto se debe a lo que ahora parece una anomal\u00eda hist\u00f3rica. A comienzo de la d\u00e9cada de los 80, cuando Chile reform\u00f3 su legislaci\u00f3n minera, abriendo el camino a enormes nuevas inversiones principalmente en cobre, hizo una distinci\u00f3n entre minerales \u201cconcesionables\u201d y \u201cno concesionables\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/ESP_SP_MAR_2011_Solminhac.jpg\")
La mayor\u00eda de los minerales, incluido el cobre, se colocaron en la primera categor\u00eda, pero el litio y los hidrocarburos fueron definidos como no concesionables. En el caso del litio, eso se debi\u00f3 a que fue considerado material \u201cestrat\u00e9gico\u201d debido a su aplicaci\u00f3n en ojivas nucleares y potencial uso en centrales nucleares de fusi\u00f3n.<\/p>\n
Sin embargo, la fusi\u00f3n nuclear sigui\u00f3 siendo una posibilidad distante y, al t\u00e9rmino de la Guerra Fr\u00eda, Estados Unidos vendi\u00f3 sus existencias estrat\u00e9gicas de litio, pero Chile no cambi\u00f3 su legislaci\u00f3n. \u201cEs el \u00fanico pa\u00eds en el mundo que a\u00fan trata al litio como un material estrat\u00e9gico\u201d, destaca Patricio de Solminihac de SQM.<\/p>\n
Como resultado, el litio s\u00f3lo puede ser producido en Chile por el Estado o por empresas estatales (Codelco, la cupr\u00edfera estatal, tiene concesiones de litio que no explota). M\u00e1s a\u00fan, destaca Jer\u00f3nimo Carcel\u00e9n, abogado experto en miner\u00eda, si se obtiene una cantidad significativa de litio como subproducto de otras actividades mineras, el Estado debe ser informado y puede reclamar su derecho a comercializarlo (aunque, en la pr\u00e1ctica, esto no ocurre).<\/p>\n
La excepci\u00f3n a este r\u00e9gimen fueron las concesiones de litio que precedieron la reforma de los 80, en manos de la estatal Corporaci\u00f3n de Fomento de la Producci\u00f3n (CORFO) de Chile en el salar de Atacama y de Codelco en el salar Pedernales, m\u00e1s al sur del desierto de Atacama. Son las concesiones de CORFO las que SQM y SCL han estado explotando desde entonces.<\/p>\n
SCL, que produjo por primera vez litio en 1984, naci\u00f3 como una empresa conjunta entre CORFO y Foote Mineral Company, el entonces mayor productor mundial de litio y que fue adquirido posteriormente por Chemetall. CORFO hab\u00eda realizado la exploraci\u00f3n, recuerda Engel-Bader, pero necesitaba un socio para desarrollar los recursos y, tras algunos a\u00f1os, vendi\u00f3 su participaci\u00f3n en la empresa a Foote.<\/p>\n
SQM se remota a la d\u00e9cada de los 20 como productor de nitratos, pero solo ingres\u00f3 al mercado del litio a comienzos de los 90 cuando adquiri\u00f3 el 75% de MINSAL Ltda., empresa conjunta formada en 1986 por CORFO, la empresa minera Amax y la compa\u00f1\u00eda de capitales locales Molymet. En 1995, tambi\u00e9n pas\u00f3 a comprar la parte de CORFO.<\/p>\n
Eso parece como un duopolio c\u00f3modo y, de hecho, hay ciertas cr\u00edticas a las condiciones en que se permite que SQM y SCL utilicen las concesiones de CORFO. SQM, con ventas de litio por US$ 150 millones en el 2010, paga un canon de arriendo anual de US$ 15.000, m\u00e1s el 6,8% de sus ventas de litio, o un total que bordea los US$20 millones al a\u00f1o.<\/p>\n
SCL, por otro lado, no paga ni un arriendo fijo ni un porcentaje de sus ventas de litio, sino que el 10% de las ventas de magnesio y el 3% de las ventas de cloruro de potasio que, seg\u00fan COCHILCO, sumaron US$ 1,4 millones en el 2008. La diferencia, a juicio de Engel-Bader, es que SCL pag\u00f3 por adelantado su uso de las concesiones de CORFO.<\/p>\n
En la estatal Comisi\u00f3n Chilena del Cobre (COCHILCO) de Chile, su vicepresidente ejecutivo Andr\u00e9s Mac-Lean niega que los contratos fueran un error. \u201cSe firmaron sobre la base de las condiciones de mercado de ese entonces y es f\u00e1cil ser general despu\u00e9s de la guerra\u201d.<\/p>\n
Una Camisa de Fuerza Legal<\/strong><\/p>\n Sin embargo, las empresas tampoco est\u00e1n demasiado contentas con sus contratos. A juicio de COCHILCO, la demanda mundial de litio se duplic\u00f3 en 10 a\u00f1os al 2008 mientras que su precio casi se triplic\u00f3 y, tras registrar un mal a\u00f1o en el 2009, se espera de nuevo un s\u00f3lido crecimiento, donde la demanda posiblemente se duplique nuevamente para el 2020.<\/p>\n El contrato de SQM caducar\u00e1 en el 2030 y, en cualquier caso, s\u00f3lo le permite producir el equivalente a 180.000 toneladas de metal de litio. Eso significa unas 960.000 toneladas de carbonato de litio, explica de Solminihac, de los cuales hasta ahora ya ha producido 350.000 toneladas y COCHILCO estima que llegar\u00e1 a su l\u00edmite para el 2023. En el 2009, la firma habr\u00eda solicitado un aumento del 20% al l\u00edmite, pero su petici\u00f3n no fue aceptada.<\/p>\n SCL est\u00e1 en una mejor posici\u00f3n. Su contrato establece un l\u00edmite de 200.000 toneladas de metal de litio, pero sin fecha de expiraci\u00f3n y, seg\u00fan COCHILCO, deber\u00eda poder continuar produciendo hasta el 2040. Pero eso no basta, afirma Engel-Bader.<\/p>\n \u201cEste es un momento muy importante para las operaciones de litio y los usuarios como los fabricantes de autos quieren tener la seguridad de que podr\u00e1n seguir provey\u00e9ndolos en 20, 30 e incluso en 50 a\u00f1os m\u00e1s\u201d, afirma.<\/p>\n El riesgo es que, si no, miren a otro lado. Y ese es el riesgo para Chile tambi\u00e9n.<\/p>\n El mercado mundial de litio se aval\u00fao en cerca de US$ 600 millones en el 2010, estima Mac-Lean y -en otras palabras- es peque\u00f1o en comparaci\u00f3n con el cobre, la principal exportaci\u00f3n de Chile. Y tampoco, seg\u00fan parece ahora, es posible que adquiera la importancia de ese otro \u201coro blanco\u201d -los nitratos- que dominaron la historia social y econ\u00f3mica de Chile a comienzos del siglo XX.<\/p>\n De todos modos, otros pa\u00edses est\u00e1n ansiosos por captar una parte del mercado. Y eso incluye a dos de los vecinos inmediatos de Chile: Argentina y Bolivia.<\/p>\n De hecho, se cree que el salar de Uyuni en Bolivia, justo al otro lado de la frontera del desierto de Atacama, es la mayor reserva individual de litio a nivel mundial. El gobierno del presidente Evo Morales ha invertido ah\u00ed un monto estimado de US$ 6 millones en una planta piloto de litio y se ha informado que una serie de empresas -incluidas las japonesas Mitsubishi y Sumitomo, las surcoreanas Samsung y el grupo industrial franc\u00e9s Bollor\u00e9- han hecho acercamientos con miras a posibles inversiones.<\/p>\n Junto con Chile y Bolivia, la zona norte de Argentina tambi\u00e9n forma parte del \u00e1rea denominada por la revista Forbes como la \u201cArabia Saudita del litio\u201d. En la actualidad, Argentina corresponde a un 11% estimado de la capacidad mundial de producci\u00f3n, con apenas una operaci\u00f3n en el salar Hombre Muerto, propiedad de la firma estadounidense FMC Corporation, pero una serie de empresas mineras junior -algunas de ellas en sociedad con filiales de grandes fabricantes de autos que hab\u00edan mantenido previamente conversaciones con Chile- se han involucrado en operaciones de exploraci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n \u00c1lvaro Merino de SONAMI destaca que en la actualidad hay 14 nuevos proyectos de litio que se est\u00e1n desarrollando en todo el mundo, los que duplicar\u00edan con creces la capacidad de producci\u00f3n mundial, pero ninguno de ellos est\u00e1 en Chile. \u201cSe nos est\u00e1 pasando la micro\u201d, se lamenta. \u201cPese a las ventajas competitivas de Chile, la nueva capacidad se emplazar\u00e1 en otros pa\u00edses a menos que haya un cambio en la legislaci\u00f3n\u201d.<\/p>\n Una Soluci\u00f3n R\u00e1pida<\/strong><\/p>\n Esa visi\u00f3n es compartida por Monika Engel-Bader de Chemetall. \u201cChile es la mejor fuente de litio en el mundo, pero (\u2026) necesitamos poder contar con una perspectiva de largo plazo\u201d, sostiene.<\/p>\n Bajo el anterior gobierno de Chile encabezado por la presidenta Michelle Bachelet, se estableci\u00f3 una mesa redonda de Litio -conformada por distintas agencias gubernamentales- para analizar el tema, pero no lleg\u00f3 a m\u00e1s que eso. Sin embargo, el gobierno de Sebasti\u00e1n Pi\u00f1era, quien asumi\u00f3 como presidente de Chile en marzo del 2010, espera entregar una respuesta m\u00e1s temprana.<\/p>\n El remedio obvio ser\u00eda modificar la legislaci\u00f3n y hacer que el litio sea un mineral concesionable y esa es la soluci\u00f3n que prefieren muchos en la coalici\u00f3n de gobierno. No obstante, eso ser\u00eda una enorme tarea, que exigir\u00eda una reforma a la Constituci\u00f3n de Chile, opci\u00f3n que requerir\u00eda que el Gobierno consiga el respaldo de la oposici\u00f3n y que, incluso en caso de que esta entregara los votos necesarios, podr\u00eda demorar a\u00f1os, se\u00f1ala Jer\u00f3nimo Carcel\u00e9n.<\/p>\n Seg\u00fan Mac-Lean de COCHILCO, es probable que el gobierno se decida por licitar contratos de operaci\u00f3n para el desarrollo de yacimientos de litio individuales. Similar a los denominados Contratos Especiales de Operaci\u00f3n Petrolera (CEOP) ofrecidos por el gobierno anterior para el desarrollo de reservas de hidrocarburos en la Regi\u00f3n de Magallanes, en el extremo sur del pa\u00eds, tienen la ventaja de no requerir un cambio en la ley, destaca Carcel\u00e9n.<\/p>\n La decisi\u00f3n podr\u00eda anunciarse a fines de abril, sugiere Mac-Lean, si bien lanzar las licitaciones de los contratos demorar\u00eda m\u00e1s. La regulaci\u00f3n necesaria podr\u00eda elaborarse de manera bastante r\u00e1pida, afirma, pero cada contrato requerir\u00eda de una preparaci\u00f3n cuidadosa y muy demandante en t\u00e9rminos de tiempo.<\/p>\n Un problema es que, si bien el salar de Atacama se ha sondeado en profundidad, hay mucha menos informaci\u00f3n sobre las reservas de los tres salares -Pedernales, Punta Negra y Maricunga- donde se ofrecer\u00edan los denominados Contratos Especiales de Operaci\u00f3n de Litio (CEOL). La mayor parte de los estudios que existen son bastante antiguos, se\u00f1ala Mac-Lean.<\/p>\n Sin embargo, hay otra dificultad, destaca Carcel\u00e9n. La mayor\u00eda de las \u00e1reas en donde se cree que hay litio ya est\u00e1n sujetas a concesiones mineras para la extracci\u00f3n de otros minerales, ya sea porque genuinamente se est\u00e1n explotando estos minerales o porque las concesiones se adquirieron de manera m\u00e1s especulativa bajo el nombre de otros minerales, pero con miras a su futuro potencial de litio.<\/p>\n El resultado es que el gobierno podr\u00eda terminar queriendo ofrecer un CEOL en un \u00e1rea en la que ya hay otra empresa produciendo nitratos, por ejemplo. Esa es la desventaja de los CEOL, admite Mac-Lean, pero no es irremontable.<\/p>\n El truco ser\u00e1 encontrar una manera de compensar al tenedor de la concesi\u00f3n existente y hay una serie de opciones. Una ser\u00eda que las firmas que presenten ofertas por los CEOL propongan una compensaci\u00f3n financiera; otra ser\u00eda que el tenedor de la concesi\u00f3n se convierta en socio del contrato.<\/p>\n Ni SQM ni SCL han manifestado p\u00fablicamente una opini\u00f3n sobre los CEOL, pero est\u00e1n en conversaciones con el gobierno sobre su posible introducci\u00f3n. \u201cEstamos a favor de un amplio consenso que posibilite un cambio en la regulaci\u00f3n (\u2026) y que permita a Chile mantener y fortalecer su liderazgo\u201d, afirma de Solminihac.<\/p>\n El problema, por supuesto, ser\u00e1 c\u00f3mo se dispone el puzzle de concesiones y CEOL y se aseguran acuerdos de compensaci\u00f3n justos para los tenedores de las concesiones. Sin embargo, si se logra que funcionen, los CEOL ser\u00edan una manera r\u00e1pida y pr\u00e1ctica de aflojar la camisa de fuerza legal que somete al litio.<\/p>\n Ruth Bradley<\/strong> trabaja como periodista freelance en Santiago y es ex editora de bUSiness CHILE.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/P> World lithium users are getting nervous. Their problem is not a scarcity of reserves – at present level of demand, there are enough to keep the market going for over 500 years – but supply security.<\/P> Lithium, a silver-white metal so soft it can be cut with a knife, has long been used to make lubricants and heat-resistant glass as well as by the pharmaceutical industry, first to treat gout and then as a mood-stabilizer. Over the past 20 years, it has, however, also emerged as a key component of the rechargeable batteries used in mobile phones, laptops and digital cameras.\u00a0<\/P> These gadgets now account for over a quarter of international lithium consumption, says Patricio de Solminihac, executive vice-president and COO of Sociedad Qu\u00edmica y Minera de Chile (SQM), Chile\u2019s largest producer. And that is without counting the development of electric cars which also use lithium in their batteries.<\/P> The catch for industries that use lithium is that there are only a handful of suppliers. Chile, which represents over 40% of the world\u2019s current production capacity, has just two producers – SQM and the Sociedad Chilena del Litio (SCL), a subsidiary of New Jersey-based Rockwood Holdings \u2013 and there are only another dozen or so, around the world, principally in Australia, China and Argentina.<\/P> That explains why, in 2009, as part of a US$2.4 billion program to promote the development of battery technology for hybrid and electric vehicles, Rockwood received a grant of US$28.4 million from the U.S. government for the expansion of its existing lithium carbonate facility in Nevada and to build a new lithium hydroxide plant in North Carolina. It also explains why lithium users are interested in moving upstream and investing directly in its production.<\/P> Chile is the obvious candidate. As well as a secure and attractive business environment, it has some of the world\u2019s lowest lithium production costs, points out Alvaro Merino, head of research at Chile\u2019s Mining Society (SONAMI).<\/P> Lithium, which does not exist in nature as a metal but only in different compounds, can be obtained either from brines – or, in other words, salt flats like those found in northern Chile\u2019s Atacama Desert – or, more expensively, from certain types of minerals as in Australia. But, even among brine producers, Chile has a competitive edge.<\/P> That is because weather conditions in the Atacama Desert \u2013 usually windy and sunny – make the evaporation process more efficient, explains Monika Engel-Bader, president of Chemetall, the Munich-based company through which Rockwood owns SCL. \u201cIn Nevada, for example, where we also use a pond system, environmental conditions aren\u2019t quite as good and production costs are a bit higher,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/P> Lithium users in Asia, Chile\u2019s main market, are reported to have scouted investment opportunities in Chile. So far, however, they have gone away empty-handed.<\/P> Reserved for the state<\/STRONG><\/P> That is because of what now seems an historic anomaly. In the early 1980s, when Chile reformed its mining legislation, opening the way to huge new investments principally in copper, it made a distinction between \u201cconcessionable\u201d and \u201cnon-concessionable\u201d minerals.<\/P> Nuclear fusion has, however, remained a distant prospect and, at the end of the Cold War, the United States sold its strategic lithium stockpiles, but Chile did not change its legislation. \u201cIt is the only country in the world that still treats lithium as a strategic material,\u201d notes SQM\u2019s Patricio de Solminihac.<\/P> As a result, lithium can only be produced in Chile by the state or state-owned companies (Codelco, the state copper producer, has lithium concessions that it doesn\u2019t exploit). Moreover, points out Jer\u00f3nimo Carcel\u00e9n, a mining lawyer, if a significant amount of lithium is obtained as a by-product of other mining activities, the state must be informed and can claim its right to market it (although this doesn\u2019t, in practice, happen).<\/P> The exception to this regime were the lithium concessions that predated the 1980s reform, held by Chile\u2019s Economic Development Agency (CORFO) in the Atacama Salt Flat and by Codelco in the Pedernales Salt Flat, further south in the Atacama Desert. It is CORFO\u2019s concessions that SQM and SCL have been exploiting since then.<\/P> SCL, which produced its first lithium in 1984, was born as a joint venture between CORFO and Foote Mineral Company, then the world\u2019s largest lithium producer which was subsequently acquired by Chemetall. CORFO had done the exploration, recalls Engel-Bader, but needed a partner to develop the resources and, after a few years, sold its stake in the venture to Foote.<\/P> SQM dates back to the 1920s as a nitrates producer but only entered the lithium market in the early 1990s when it acquired 75% of MINSAL Ltda., a joint venture formed in 1986 by CORFO, the Amax mining company and locally-owned Molymet. In 1995, it too went on to buy out CORFO.<\/P> That looks like a comfortable duopoly and there is, indeed, some criticism of the terms on which SQM and SCL are allowed to use CORFO\u2019s concessions. SQM, with lithium sales of US$150 million in 2010, pays an annual rent of US$15,000, plus 6.8% of its lithium sales, or a total of around US$20 million a year.<\/P> SCL, on the other hand, pays neither a fixed rent nor a percentage of its lithium sales, but 10% of magnesium sales and 3% of potassium chloride sales which, according to COCHILCO, amounted to US$1.4 million in 2008. The difference, according to Engel-Bader, is that SCL paid upfront for its use of CORFO\u2019s concessions.<\/P> At the Chilean government\u2019s Copper Commission (COCHILCO), executive vice-president Andr\u00e9s Mac-Lean denies that the contracts were a mistake. \u201cThey were signed on the basis of market conditions at the time,\u201d he says, \u201cand it\u2019s easy to be wise after the event.\u201d<\/P> A legal straitjacket<\/STRONG>\u00a0<\/P> But the companies aren\u2019t too happy with their contracts either. According to COCHILCO, world demand for lithium doubled in the ten years to 2008 while its price approximately trebled and, after a bad year in 2009, strong growth is again expected, with demand possibly doubling again by 2020.<\/P> SQM\u2019s contract will expire in 2030 and, in any case, only allows it to produce the equivalent of 180,000 tonnes of lithium metal. That means some 960,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate, explains de Solminihac, of which it has so far produced 350,000 tonnes, and COCHILCO estimates that it will reach its limit by 2023. In 2009, it reportedly requested a 20% increase in the limit, but met with a refusal.\u00a0<\/P> SCL is better off. Its contract sets a limit of 200,000 tonnes of lithium metal but no expiry date and, according to COCHILCO, it should be able to continue to produce through to 2040. But that\u2019s not good enough, says Engel-Bader.<\/P> \u201cThis is a very important time for the lithium business and users like car manufacturers want to be sure we\u2019ll be able to continue supplying them in 20, 30 and even 50 years\u2019 time,\u201d she says.<\/P> The risk is that, otherwise, they will look elsewhere. And that is the risk for Chile too.<\/P> The world lithium market was worth some US$600 million in 2010, estimates Mac-Lean, and is, in other words, tiny as compared to copper, Chile\u2019s main export. Nor, on present count, is it likely to acquire the importance of that other \u201cwhite gold\u201d – nitrates – that dominated Chile\u2019s economic and social history in the early twentieth century.<\/P> Still, other countries are hungry for a bite of the market. And that includes two of Chile\u2019s immediate neighbors, Argentina and Bolivia.<\/P> The Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia, just across the border from the Atacama Desert, is, indeed, believed to be the world\u2019s single largest reserve of lithium. The government of President Evo Morales has invested an estimated US$6 million in a pilot lithium plant there and a number of companies, including Japan\u2019s Mitsubishi and Sumitomo, South Korea\u2019s Samsung and Frances\u2019s Bollor\u00e9 industrial group, are reported to have made approaches with a view to possible investments.<\/P> Along with Chile and Bolivia, northern Argentina also forms part of the area dubbed by Forbes magazine as the \u201cSaudi Arabia of lithium\u201d. Argentina currently accounts for an estimated 11% of world production capacity, with just one operation on the Hombre Muerto Salt Flat, owned by U.S.-based FMC Corporation, but a number of junior mining companies, some of them in partnership with subsidiaries of large car manufacturers that had previously had conversations in Chile, are engaged in exploration operations.<\/P> SONAMI\u2019s Alvaro Merino points out there are currently 14 new lithium projects being developed around the world that would more than double world production capacity, but none of them are in Chile. \u201cWe\u2019re missing the bus,\u201d he laments. \u201cDespite Chile\u2019s competitive advantages, the new capacity will be in other countries unless there\u2019s a change in law.\u201d<\/P> Fast-track solution<\/STRONG><\/P> That view is echoed by Chemetall\u2019s Monika Engel-Bader. \u201cChile is the best lithium source in the world but\u2026 we need to be able to count on a long-term perspective,\u201d she says.<\/P> Under the previous Chilean government headed by President Michelle Bachelet, a Lithium Roundtable, bringing together different government agencies, was set up to study the issue but that was as far as it got. However, the government of Sebasti\u00e1n Pi\u00f1era, who took office as Chile\u2019s president in March 2010, hopes to provide an early answer.<\/P> The obvious remedy would be to change the law and make lithium concessionable and that is the solution favored by many in the government coalition. However, that would be a major undertaking, calling for a reform of Chile\u2019s constitution, an option for which the government would require the support of the opposition and, even in the unlikely event this were forthcoming in sufficient numbers, it could take years, says Jer\u00f3nimo Carcel\u00e9n.\u00a0<\/P> According to COCHILCO\u2019s Mac-Lean, the government\u2019s likely decision will be to tender operating contracts for the development of individual lithium deposits. Similar to the so-called CEOPs offered by the previous government for the development of hydrocarbons reserves in the Magallanes Region of the far south, they have the advantage of not requiring a change in the law, points out Carcel\u00e9n.<\/P> The decision could be announced in late April, suggests Mac-Lean, although issuing tenders for the contracts would take longer. The necessary regulation could be drawn up quite quickly, he says, but each contract would require careful and time-consuming preparation.<\/P> One problem is that, although the Atacama Salt Lake has been pretty thoroughly surveyed, there is much less information about reserves in the three salt flats – Pedernales, Punta Negra and Maricunga – where the so-called Lithium Operating Contracts (CEOLs) would be offered. Most of the studies that exist are quite old, says Mac-Lean.<\/P> There is, however, another difficulty, points out Carcel\u00e9n. Most of the areas where lithium is believed to exist are already subject to mining concessions for other minerals, either because these minerals are genuinely being exploited or because the concessions were acquired more speculatively in the name of other minerals but with a view to their future lithium potential.<\/P> The result is that the government could find itself wanting to offer a CEOL in an area in which there is another company already producing, say, nitrates. That is the drawback of CEOLs, admits Mac-Lean, but is not insurmountable.<\/P> The trick will be to find a way to compensate the existing concession holder and there are a number of options. One would be for bidders on the CEOL to offer financial compensation; another would be for the concession holder to become a partner in the contract.<\/P> Neither SQM nor SCL have publicly expressed an opinion about CEOLs, but are in talks with the government about their possible introduction. \u201cWe are in favor of a broad consensus that permits a change in the regulation\u2026 and allows Chile to maintain and strengthen its leadership,\u201d says de Solminihac.\u00a0\u00a0<\/P> The devil will, of course, be in the details of how the jigsaw of concessions and CEOLs is put together and in ensuring fair compensation arrangements for concession holders. If they can be made to work, CEOLs would, however, be a quick and practical way of loosening lithium\u2019s legal straitjacket.<\/P> Ruth Bradley<\/STRONG> is a freelance journalist based in Santiago and a former editor of bUSiness CHILE. \u00a0<\/STRONG><\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> \u00a0<\/P> <\/P> Los usuarios de litio en el mundo se est\u00e1n poniendo nerviosos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","news_tax":[],"user_type":[],"class_list":["post-4492","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/ESP_SP_MAR_2011_Jeronimo_Carcelen.jpg\")
La producci\u00f3n de Chile de compuestos de litio se increment\u00f3 al pasar de 36.000 toneladas en el 2000 a un m\u00e1ximo de 60.000 toneladas en el 2007 (aunque cayeron a 57.000 toneladas en el 2008 y a un m\u00ednimo de 31.000 toneladas en el 2009). En el mediano plazo, no obstante, tanto SCL como SQM enfrentan l\u00edmites a la producci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/ESP_SP_MAR_2011_Monika_Engel_Bader.jpg\")
Si, para el 2020, el 10% de los autos nuevos son el\u00e9ctricos, Chemetall necesitar\u00e1 haber duplicado su producci\u00f3n de carbonato de litio, afirma. Dado que los nuevos proyectos tienen un per\u00edodo de puesta en marcha de alrededor de tres a\u00f1os y la producci\u00f3n s\u00f3lo se podr\u00eda incrementar de manera gradual, el tiempo apremia, insiste.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/ENG_GRAF_1_MAR2011.jpg\")
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Most, including copper, were placed in the former category, but lithium and hydrocarbons were defined as non-concessionable. In the case of lithium, that was because it was then considered a \u201cstrategic\u201d material due to its application in nuclear warheads and potential use in nuclear fusion power plants.<\/P>
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Chile\u2019s output of lithium compounds has increased, rising from 36,000 tonnes in 2000 to a peak of 60,000 tonnes in 2007 (but dropping to 57,000 tonnes in 2008 and a low of 31,000 tonnes in 2009). In the medium term, however, both SCL and SQM face caps on their output.<\/P>
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If, by 2020, 10% of new cars are electric, Chemetall would need to have doubled its lithium carbonate output, she says. Given that new projects have a lead time of around three years and production could only be increased gradually, time is at a premium, she insists.<\/P>
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