The material "lithium" is of great importance in the manufacture of batteries used in electric cars, and more than half of the global stock of "lithium" is located in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile, which has attracted the interest of investors and governments in those countries.

 Edited by| Christian Megan

Economic  section -  CJ journalist

World - May,3,2023

  Due to the importance that this material has come to represent, countries such as China and the United States are seeking to secure their supplies of this metal in the race of

manufacturing electric vehicles, which in turn is a booming market that is being sought by more and more players all the time

The BBC quoted Benjamin Gidan, director of the Latin America program at the Wilson Center, as saying that " the main forces are struggling to obtain the minerals necessary for

the transition to clean energy and Latin America is the battlefield."

He added that "the United States arrived late to the competition arena, and Washington is clearly concerned that China has preceded it in this field."

Chinese companies have spent years looking for places from which to obtain lithium resources, which are called "white gold", in different parts of the world, in particular in

Latin America, which has the world's largest reserves of the metal

Chile is the second largest lithium producer in the world after Australia. Until now, the exploitation of its resources is still in the hands of private companies, but the new plan

announced by President Gabriel Boric aims to change that situation in order for the country to benefit from the profits of "white gold"

In turn, Bolivia tops the list, with its known reserves of 21 million tons, followed by Argentina (19.3 million) and Chile (9.6 million), according to the US Government Geological Survey Agency

Mexico, despite having a stock of only 1.7 million tons, has also become an important player in North America, not only because of its geographical proximity to the United

States and Canada, but also because it has become a production center for electric cars (especially after the recent announcement that giant car manufacturers such as Tesla and BMW will set up factories there)

But the Chilean president intends to establish a public-private partnership through which the state will retain a controlling stake, aimed at promoting advances in technology to put Chile within the supply chain of a thriving industry.

In turn, the task will not be easy, as there are many countries trying to grab a big slice of that pie

Just as the United States and other countries are striving to secure their energy independence, China has been doing the same for several years, setting its sights on the most

sought-after metals by World Trade, among which is lithium

Wang Guanghua, Chinese Minister of Natural Resources, said in an interview with the official Xinhua news agency in early January that "China is highly dependent on other

countries to supply it with some important mineral resources, and once the international situation changes, this will certainly affect economic security, and perhaps even

national security."

In the first three months of this year, Chinese companies signed ambitious agreements to invest in Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.

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