Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) (NYSE: SQM; Santiago Stock Exchange: SQM-B, SQM-A) reported today net loss(1) for the six months ended June 30, 2024, of (US$655.9) million or (US$2.30) per share, compared to US$1,330.1 million or US$4.66 per share reported for the same period last year.
Gross profit reached US$752.5 million (31.6% of revenues) for the six months ended June 30, 2024, lower than US$1,920.7 million (44.5% of revenues) recorded for the six months ended June 30, 2023. Revenues totaled US$2,378.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a decrease of 44.9% compared to US$4,315.6 million reported for the six months ended June 30, 2023.
The Company also announced net income for the second quarter of 2024 of US$213.6 million or US$0.75 per share, a decrease of 63.2% compared to US$580.2 million or US$2.03 per share for the second quarter of 2023. Gross profit for the second quarter of 2024 reached US$383.9 million, 55.1% lower than the US$855.1 million reported for the second quarter of 2023. Revenues totaled US$1,293.6 million for the second quarter of 2024, a decrease of 37.0% compared to US$2,051.7 million for the second quarter of 2023.
SQM's Chief Executive Officer, Ricardo Ramos, stated, "We are very pleased to highlight that during the second quarter, we entered into a partnership agreement with Codelco to extend our operations in the Salar de Atacama until 2060. Together with Codelco, we are working to fulfill the remaining conditions for the partnership to take effect in 2025. The most pivotal of these is the consultation process with the communities surrounding the Salar de Atacama. We are committed to reaching a mutually beneficial agreement with the Atacameño communities founded upon the most rigorous standards, transparency and promotion of the human rights of these communities."
He continued by saying, "In the second quarter, we continued to see positive sales volumes growth in the lithium, iodine and fertilizer businesses. While sales volumes in the lithium and iodine businesses again reached record levels, increasing by more than 20% and 11%, respectively, compared to the same period last year, sales volumes in the fertilizer business confirmed the strong demand recovery trends anticipated since the beginning of the year, increasing by more than 20% compared to the same period last year."
Mr. Ramos further stated, "The strong sales volumes growth in the lithium business in the second quarter was offset by significantly lower average realized lithium prices, as a result of lower market prices when compared to the same period last year. We see this pricing trend continuing in the second half of this year, with current lithium price indices in China nearly 20% lower than the average lithium price indices in the second quarter of 2024. This trend could have a negative impact on our realized prices, which reflect the prevailing market price trends, in the second half of the year. Given current price levels, we anticipate that some lithium producers may reduce their output, as many projects, especially greenfield, are not economically viable at these prices. In our situation, while we continue to advance our previously announced expansions, we are currently reevaluating specific markets and initiatives that may be less attractive in the near term under these conditions."
Mr. Ramos closed by saying, "In light of our confidence in the long-term growth of the lithium industry, we launched SQM International Lithium to focus on developing SQM's lithium business outside of Chile. Leveraging our expertise in exploration, project development, M&A and innovation, SQM International Lithium's objective is to expand the portfolio of lithium assets we have with various partners outside of Chile, allowing us to increase SQM's production volumes by at least 100,000 metric tons of LCE per year by the end of this decade."