The country holding the world’s largest reserves of lithium says it’s one step closer to becoming a manufacturing hub for rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles.
Chile is hopeful that battery makers such as Samsung SDI and POSCO will start installing lithium processing plants in the country by the end of the year, according to Sebastian Sichel, executive vice president of government development agency Corfo. The agency recently reached a deal with top lithium miner Albemarle Corp. that will give battery makers access to cheaper lithium.
“We want manufacturers to get closer and closer to producing a complete battery in Chile — that’s our dream,” Sichel said in an interview in Santiago. “We don’t know if we’ll ever make vehicles, but we would like to at least see battery parts produced in Chile, maybe even the whole battery.”
Chile is the world’s second-largest producer of lithium, the mineral essential to power the rechargeable batteries used in electric cars. Until now, it has only been able to export the raw mineral to countries such as China or South Korea, where most of the batteries are made.
But over the past two years the government has been trying to encourage manufacturers to refine and process lithium in Chile. The effort might soon bear fruit, Sichel said.
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