Chilean miner SQM, the world’s No. 2 lithium producer, saw profits tumble in the last quarter of 2019 and warned that early 2020 sales in China, a key market for the battery metals used in electric vehicles, could be hit by impact of the coronavirus.
The lithium giant is the latest miner to report grim 2019 results as overproduction of the metal drives down prices and dents revenues.
SQM posted fourth-quarter net income of $66.9 million, a 38% drop compared to $108.6-million in the same period in 2018, according to its quarterly earnings statement. Gross profits slid more than 30% to $137.8-million.