Chile’s president moves to bring lithium under state control

Chile’s leftwing president Gabriel Boric has unveiled plans to bring the lithium industry under state control, creating uncertainty for investors in the world’s second-largest producer of the metal crucial to electric car batteries. In a television address mentioning socialist president Salvador Allende’s 1971 nationalisation of copper, Boric said “the state will participate in the whole [lithium] production cycle and create a National Lithium Company to do so”. It would also impose stricter environmental rules, he said. Chile is the latest in a series of countries seeking greater control over key mineral resources, after Mexico nationalised its lithium industry last year and Zimbabwe banned unprocessed lithium exports. Indonesia is curbing exports of commodities including nickel, which is used in batteries. Boric’s proposals fall short of full nationalisation, envisaging majority state-owned partnerships with private companies for the exploration and production of lithium deposits. He

Chile’s leftwing president Gabriel Boric has unveiled plans to bring the lithium industry under state control, creating uncertainty for investors in the world’s second-largest producer of the metal crucial to electric car batteries. In a television address mentioning socialist president Salvador Allende’s 1971 nationalisation of copper, Boric said “the state will participate in the whole [lithium] production cycle and create a National Lithium Company to do so”. It would also impose stricter environmental rules, he said. Chile is the latest in a series of countries seeking greater control over