On April 19, 2021, SQM announced that it had reached a long-term agreement to supply lithium hydroxide to Johnson Matthey (JM), the global sustainable technology leader and member of the Global Battery Alliance.
Lithium hydroxide is a key raw material of cathodic active material (CAM) eLNO ®produced by JM. Working with a fully integrated lithium producer such as SQM to ensure long-term access to lithium hydroxide is a key milestone in JM's expansion plans for battery materials in Europe.
The supply agreement, which will last from 2021 to 2028, will support JM's planned production of eLNO ®at CAM production facilities in Poland and Finland. The contract will provide enough lithium hydroxide to power about 500000 all-electric vehicles.
Ricardo Ramos (Ricardo Ramos), CEO of SQM, said: "We are very pleased to announce the signing of this contract because it is only one result of our efforts to increase lithium production in a sustainable manner. We are firmly committed to an important transition to zero-carbon transport. Last year, we announced our ambitious goal of producing carbon-neutral lithium products by 2030. We are the first lithium manufacturer to join IRMA as a pending member, and we believe that. Our own internal efforts will help ensure the most comprehensive implementation of stringent standards to achieve sustainable lithium production in Atacama Salt Lake in 2011.
We are working on a major lithium expansion plan to reach 180000 and 30, 000 metric tons of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, respectively. These expansions will go hand in hand with our efforts to reduce our environmental footprint by halving brine mining and fresh water consumption by 2030. In addition, we continue to work in Australia to develop the lithium hydroxide project with Wesfarmers.
Christian Gunther, CEO of Zhuangxin Wanfeng Battery Materials, added: "this multi-year lithium hydroxide supply agreement builds on our existing relationship with SQM and ensures supply security and traceability of this critical raw material to our customers. We are pleased to cooperate with GBA member SQM to provide sustainable cathode materials for the market.
Zhuang Xin Wanfeng and SQM will continue to develop their existing relationship with this new partnership and will explore synergies and common goals between the two companies.
SQM is a global company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the San Diego Stock Exchange. Through innovation and technology development, SQM develops and produces a variety of products, such as health, nutrition, renewable energy and technologies, for several industries that are critical to human progress.
