SQM Hit by Low Lithium Prices, Investments to Slow in 2025

March 7, 2025--Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Lithium miner Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM) (Santiago, Chile) reported a net loss of US$404.4 million for full-year 2024, compared to net income of US$2 billion in 2023. In the fourth quarter, the company reported net income of US$120.1 million, about 41% below the same period in 2023. Despite the weaker financial performance, SQM continued to grow its production in 2024. "We closed the year with double-digit volume growth in almost all of our business lines, when comparing full-year 2024 versus 2023," said Ricardo Ramos, the chief executive officer of SQM, in a press release. "In the lithium and iodine businesses, we posted unprecedented sales volumes, the highest in the company's history."