In the huge, virtually haunting expanse of the excessive Argentine desert, beneath layers of brine and time, lies a component that would simply be mistaken for desk salt. Yet, this mineral holds the important thing to energy electrical automobiles, cell telephones, and the entire inexperienced power revolution. They name it “white gold” – lithium.
The Cauchari-Olaroz mine, situated in Argentina’s Jujuy province, guarantees to churn out 40,000 tons of lithium over the following 40 years. But extra riveting than the mineral is the unusual company partnership extracting it. The mine is collectively owned by Canada’s Lithium Americas and China’s Ganfeng Lithium.
As the United States and China compete globally, Western corporations are searching for methods to “decouple” or “de-risk” from their erstwhile Chinese counterparts. Every firm is feeling the ripples, particularly these within the international hunt for important minerals. But on this tempest, an oasis emerges: South America’s Lithium Triangle, encompassing Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. The Canadian-Chinese mining enterprise at Cauchari-Olaroz typifies the continued China-West collaboration in South America’s lithium heartland. But within the age of strategic competitors, how lengthy will this tango final?
Chinese, Western, and Local Collaborations
Over the previous 5 many years, Chinese mining corporations like Ganfeng, Tianqi, and Zijin have gained partial or majority management over important mineral mines world wide. Examples embrace CMOC’s 80 % stake within the largest cobalt mine within the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Chinese corporations’ huge funding in Indonesia’s nickel business. Lithium is not any exception; Chinese corporations bought half of all of the world’s largest lithium mines put in the marketplace since 2018.
Chinese companies additionally aggressively invested in “junior mining companies,” daredevil entities that tackle the dangers of uncovering nature’s buried treasures. Typically birthed within the mining cradles of Canada and Australia and nursed on their respective inventory exchanges, these junior miners are at all times thirsty for capital. And Chinese financiers have been all too pleased to step in when Western traders have been busy swooning over the newest tech ventures.
A 3rd technique is to enter into joint ventures with Western and native corporations. In Australia, Tianqi has a 51 % stake in Greenbushes, the biggest lithium mine on this planet; U.S.-based firm Albemarle owns the opposite 49 %. Ganfeng acquired a major stake in Mt Marion, one other huge lithium mine, together with Australian firm Mineral Resources. The irony is that Australian miners, who churn out greater than half of the world’s lithium, find yourself sending virtually all of it to China, the place practically all of the world’s refining capability resides.
South America can also be replete with these sorts of multinational partnerships. In Chile, Tianqi bought a 23 % stake within the nation’s largest lithium producer, SQM, and is trying to improve that stake. Chinese electrical automotive maker BYD is engaged on a $290 million lithium cathode battery manufacturing manufacturing unit in northern Chile.
In Argentina, Ganfeng and Lithium Americas share possession of the Cauchari-Olaroz lithium mine. Ganfeng is almost all proprietor of Argentine Minera Exar, and just lately purchased native Lithea Inc from Argentine oil firm PlusPetrol for $962 million. Zijin is at the moment courting Argentina’s state-run agency YPF to construct a lithium battery cathode plant in Catamarca province, and already owns the Tres Quebradas lithium mine. Chinese carmakers Chery and Gotion are drawing up blueprints for a $400 million EV battery and automotive manufacturing unit in Jujuy province.
And in Bolivia, Chinese consortium CATL gained the bid by Bolivian state-owned YLB to assemble two lithium carbonate crops within the Uyuni salt mine for $1.4 billion. Chinese firm CITIC Guoan and Russian Uranium One Group will pool collectively an an identical sum to assemble two extra lithium crops in Pastos Grandes.
The Great Decoupling
When COVID-19 unfold all through the world, it uncovered simply how weak Western international locations’ provide chains have been to China. Since then, U.S. policymakers, together with counterparts in associate international locations, have been attempting to “decouple” or “de-risk” key provide chains from China. Now, for a number of personal corporations, collaborating with Chinese counterparts in industries very important to nationwide safety has change into akin to taking part in with hearth.
Canada is a living proof. On July 31, 2023, Lithium Americas determined to separate its North American and Argentine operations, almost certainly to defend the North American division from working with Ganfeng within the Cauchari-Olaroz venture. A yr prior, the Canadian authorities directed three Chinese entities to divest from Canadian junior mining corporations, which included a Canadian-run lithium mining venture in Chile. It’s a part of the Investment Canada Act, which can evaluation international investments in delicate industries, much like the Committee on Foreign Investment within the United States.
Meanwhile, Australia is searching for to interrupt its dependence on China by boosting its personal home capability to refine lithium spodumene into lithium phosphate salt to promote on to the United States and different prospects. In February 2023, the Australian authorities blocked the Yuxiao Fund from doubling its stake in Australian mining firm Northern Minerals on grounds of nationwide safety.
Conspicuous Absences
In this grand tapestry of lithium intrigue, one can’t assist however surprise: Where are the European Union, Japan, and South Korea? While the Andean plateaus of South America are teeming with gamers from China, the United States, Canada, and Australia, these different U.S. allies appear to be lacking in motion.
Currently the one European carmaker linked with the South American lithium business is BMW, which sealed a cope with Livent in March 2021. But on the sidelines of a July 2023 summit with Latin American and Caribbean leaders in Brussels, EU president Ursula von der Leyen introduced the EU and Chile are engaged on a lithium MOU.
Asia, however, is an enigma. Japan, with its automotive prowess and deep-seated ties with international locations like Brazil and Peru, stays conspicuously absent. A decade in the past, Toyota Tsusho entered right into a lithium sourcing settlement with two Argentine corporations for the Salar de Olaroz in Jujuy province, however in the present day, there’s nothing to indicate for it. In 2021, Japan created the Battery Association for Supply Chain, however there are not any indicators that BASC has any plans to interact South America.
South Korea has made a bigger funding within the area. In 2018, Korean firm POSCO acquired a big place inside the Hombre Muerto salt lake, and introduced a $4 billion funding in a lithium mining venture there in 2022.
This absence within the lithium race is not only a enterprise oversight; it’s a strategic blunder. These international locations’ auto industries contributed considerably to their financial growth, innovation, and competitiveness. Their lack of significant funding in South American lithium is a strategic drawback which will permit their Chinese opponents to leapfrog them within the EV transition.
China, which merely many years in the past was a novice within the vehicle area, now stands shoulder to shoulder with the giants. Their ace? Control over 90 % of the lithium refining capability, a strategic benefit that would depart Japan, South Korea, and European opponents chasing shadows.
South American Lithium’s Future
As we stand at this crossroads of financial ambition and geopolitical maneuvering, what is going to the approaching many years maintain for South America’s lithium panorama? The indicators are already upon us.
There is already a significant push by native governments to have corporations hold the refining, processing, and battery manufacturing inside their international locations. In its current nationwide lithium technique, Chile said it needs to domestically refine and course of lithium to supply jobs and worth to the Chilean folks. As Chinese carmakers construct battery factories in South America, it appears that evidently Chinese corporations are responding to native authorities necessities.
The vehicle titans of the world are unlikely to stay mere spectators. Direct sourcing and funding offers with mining corporations are on the horizon. GM and Ford have already made their strikes, and it gained’t be lengthy earlier than European and Asian juggernauts like BMW, Toyota, and Hyundai observe go well with. Even the tech giants – Sony, LG, Samsung – might quickly be a part of this lithium frenzy.
Yet, the lithium stage is huge, and different actors might quickly emerge. In the United States, geologists just lately found lithium deposits alongside the Nevada-Oregon border – probably among the many world’s largest. The Salton Lake in southern California, dubbed the “Lithium Valley,” in addition to Nevada’s Thacker Pass, beckon with promise. In India’s Himalayan foothills, an enormous reserve of spodumene lithium has been found, although the shadow of Kashmir’s battle looms giant and will make entry to this treasure as elusive because the peace that may unlock it. Nations like Brazil, Mexico, and Peru, too, are scouring their terrains, hoping to unearth lithium treasures.
Those nations blessed with lithium’s bounty may quickly discover themselves wielding geopolitical clout. If they navigate this period of strategic competitors with sagacity, balancing fiscal prudence with environmental stewardship, they may not solely draw positive aspects from the United States and China but additionally elevate the lives of their citizenry.
Conclusion: The End of the China-West Lithium Tango?
In the theater of worldwide commerce and politics, the notion of “decoupling” typically appears like a requiem for collaboration. Yet, the world of enterprise is aware of no borders. The Chinese-Western symphony within the lithium realm was not a mere accident; it was a confluence of financial knowledge and shared experience. Some Chinese entities, having honed their abilities over time, possess superior technological prowess. For instance, Ford is working with CATL to construct an EV plant in Michigan, though that plan is dealing with congressional pushback. By erecting partitions and asking Western corporations to rediscover the wheel, we danger not simply stalling innovation but additionally derailing the worldwide inexperienced transition.
If the mantra is to be certainly one of unrelenting rivalry, then the West should set its sights on South America’s lithium bounty and goal to outcompete China.
First, the United States, allies, and companions must formally embrace Argentina and Chile within the State Department’s Mineral Security Partnership, a bunch that ensures important minerals are produced, processed, and recycled with the best high quality requirements. Doing so will ship a robust message of South America’s significance within the lithium international provide chain.
Second, U.S. policymakers want to supply incentives for U.S. corporations to be extra lively in Argentina and Chile. The U.S. ought to embrace Argentina as one of many international locations that qualifies for particular advantages underneath the Inflation Reduction Act. Right now the IRA offers EV tax credit solely to automobiles whose batteries and minerals have been produced inside the U.S. or a rustic with which the U.S. has a free commerce settlement. Chile at the moment counts as a result of it’s an FTA associate; Argentina, regardless of its giant lithium reserves, is excluded as a result of it doesn’t have an FTA with the United States.
The U.S. must also take into account increasing the Defense Production Act – which permits the president to direct personal corporations to prioritize orders from the federal authorities – to incorporate lithium in Argentina and Chile. In May 2023, the Pentagon requested Congress to broaden the DPA to incorporate the United Kingdom and Australia; it may do the identical for these two South American international locations.
Third, U.S. corporations must also take into account creating deeper relationships not solely with the Argentine central authorities, but additionally the provincial governments of Jujuy, Salta, and Catamarca. In Argentina’s federated system, the provinces have full jurisdiction over their lithium assets. Chinese corporations have lengthy understood this and have made a concerted effort to ingratiate themselves with provincial leaders. U.S. and Western corporations ought to do the identical, whereas refraining from partaking in corruption. The prospect of working with Bolivia is sort of low as a result of Arce administration’s elevated relations with China and Russia. However, the United States ought to search for home windows of alternative to interact the Bolivian authorities sooner or later.
Fourth, the U.S., allies and companions shouldn’t put self-imposed limits on lithium exploration and manufacturing. Washington’s gaze, each geographically and when it comes to funding levels, is woefully slender. All of the U.S. authorities’s investments are targeted domestically, which is sensible politically, however doesn’t consider the worldwide nature of the lithium provide chain.
The U.S. technique can also be restricted by its life cycle. Currently, U.S. government-supported abroad financing can’t go into early stage mineral exploration. However, corporations are nonetheless attempting to discover varied areas world wide for potential lithium deposits. And it’s restricted by the financing construction, focusing solely on loans, or personal fairness. Instead, U.S. entities ought to depend on blended financing by way of stakes, loans, and mergers and acquisitions, similar to their Chinese counterparts.
Finally, U.S. businesses and firms ought to pool assets with their allies and companions to put money into lithium mining tasks. At the August 18, 2023 Japan-South Korea-U.S. summit at Camp David, the U.S. Development Finance Corporation, Japan Bank of International Cooperation, and South Korea’s Export-Import Bank agreed to cooperate on financing infrastructure, data expertise, provide chain resilience, and local weather tasks within the Indo-Pacific and past. One of their first initiatives exterior the Indo-Pacific ought to be investing in a South American lithium mining venture. Such investments shouldn’t solely embrace the mines themselves however the infrastructure round them too – together with roads, procurement companies, and expertise suppliers.
The street to lithium dominance is strewn with challenges – distant locales, daunting altitudes, and treacherous terrains. But it’s this very adversity that gives the West, alongside its allies and companions, a golden alternative to speculate, innovate, and illuminate the lives of hundreds of thousands.
In the tip, the South American lithium saga is not only about powering modern Teslas. It’s a couple of imaginative and prescient, a promise – of prosperity, progress, and a brighter tomorrow for the folks of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile.
Source web site: thediplomat.com
