Chile’s SQM, one of many world’s high lithium miners, reported an virtually ten-fold soar in second-quarter internet revenue late on Wednesday, as demand for the steel used to fabricate electric-vehicle (EV) batteries skyrocketed.
The miner’s internet revenue hit $859.3 million for the quarter, whereas income greater than quadrupled to $2.60 billion, forward of a Refinitiv estimate of $2.28 billion.
It raked in $1.85 billion in lithium gross sales within the second quarter, versus $163 million a yr earlier, it reported.
“We believe lithium demand will grow at least 35% this year compared to last year,” SQM mentioned within the submitting to Chile’s inventory alternate.
Its earnings earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) jumped to $1.30 billion, from $200 million a yr earlier.
SQM and its competitor American-owned Albemarle Corp have main initiatives within the works within the Atacama salt flats, used to extract lithium from the bottom by brine swimming pools.
SQM’s shares have greater than doubled over the previous yr, reflecting a growth in demand from an auto trade that has begun to pivot its manufacturing base towards EVs.
Source: auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com