Lithium producer Albemarle says Chile output on track despite strike
SANTIAGO - Albemarle, the world's top lithium producer, said on Tuesday it has maintained output from its Chile operations despite an ongoing strike by one of the company's four unions in the South American nation.
The 135-member "Albemarle Salar" union, which the company said comprises about half the workers at its Salar plant, went on strike in August after failing to reach a labor contract deal with the US-based lithium miner.
The company in a statement said the Salar workers remained on strike - part of a regulated legal process in Chile - but that operations continued apace there and at its La Negra processing plant nearby.
"We have a solid contingency plan that maintains operational continuity and our production at La Negra to continue meeting our customers' needs," the company said in the statement.
Representatives of the striking union did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Albemarle's Atacama operations in Chile are a vital source of the ultralight white metal used in the batteries that power electric vehicles. Top competitor SQM operates nearby.
The company said it had failed to reach agreement with workers at the Salar union but had struck deals with the remaining three guilds at its operations in Chile.
"We have presented four offers, which have been rejected because they aspire to an end-of-conflict bonus amount that far exceeds what was provided to the other three unions, with whom we successfully concluded negotiations this year," the company said.
The union on strike has said in a previous written statement that it is particularly disadvantaged by the Salar's distant location, which it said shortens rest time. The union also expressed concern over inequality around compensation.
Albemarle extracts lithium-rich brine from beneath the salt flat at its Salar plant, then processes the distilled brines into battery grade lithium carbonate at its La Negra chemical plant near the city of Antofagasta in northern Chile.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation