LatinNews Daily - 11 November 2025

*China’s antitrust regulator has granted conditional approval for a partnership between Chile’s state-owned copper giant Codelco and the private Chilean company Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (SQM), a major lithium producer, to develop lithium in the Atacama salt flats. The decision by China’s regulator follows multiple authorisations from competition regulators in Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the European Union, and removes the final major hurdle for the landmark deal, which was first announced in December 2023 and was approved by Chile’s national competition authority (FNE) in April. In a statement China’s regulator stated that Codelco and SQM must honour existing commercial commitments and continue supplying Chinese customers “in accordance with the principles of fairness, reasonableness and non-discrimination”. It also required the companies to agree to provide minimum supply to Chinese customers at prices that do not exceed a certain percentage of the benchmark market price. In a statement, Codelco said China’s approval was “the last condition required at the international level to establish the partnership that will allow the Chilean government to begin lithium mining”. It added that Chile’s nuclear energy regulator (CChEN) has approved the quota of lithium extraction from the Atacama salt flats from 2031-2060. Codelco and SQM have also engaged in dialogue with the communities living near the salt flats and the economic development agency (Corfo) has carried out an indigenous consultation process, which was completed despite criticism from some indigenous groups.

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