SQM REPORTS EARNINGS FOR THE TWELVE MONTHS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022

Highlights

• SQM reported net income(1) for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 of US$3,906.3 million compared to US$585.5 million for the same period the year before. Earnings per share totaled US$13.68 for the first twelve months ended December 31, 2022, significantly higher than the US$2.05 reported for the same period of 2021.
• Revenues for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, were US$10,710.6 million.
• During the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, contributions to the Chilean treasury surpassed US$5.0 billion.

SQM will hold a conference call to discuss these results on Thursday, March 2, at 10:00am ET (12:00pm Chile time).

          Participant Dial-In (Toll Free):          1-877-344-7529
          Participant International Dial-In:       1-412-317-0088
          Webcast: https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=Ntu0zVAP

SANTIAGO, Chile, March 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) (NYSE: SQM; Santiago Stock Exchange: SQM-B, SQM-A) reported today earnings for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, of US$3,906.3 million (US$13.68 per ADR), an increase from US$585.5 million (US$2.05 per ADR) for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021.

Gross profit⁽²⁾ reached US$5,736.6 million (53.6% of revenues) for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, higher than US$1,090.1 million (38.1% of revenues) recorded for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021. Revenues totaled US$10,710.6 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, representing an increase of over 274% compared to US$2,862.3 million reported for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021.

The Company also announced earnings for the fourth quarter of 2022, reporting net income of US$1,151.0 million (US$4.03 per ADR) compared to US$321.6 million (US$1.13 per ADR) for the fourth quarter of 2021. Gross profit⁽²⁾ for the fourth quarter of 2022 reached US$1,641.9 million, higher than the US$542.8 million recorded for the fourth quarter of 2021. Revenues totaled US$3,133.6 million, an increase of approximately 189% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, when revenues amounted to US$1,084.3 million.

SQM's Chief Executive Officer, Ricardo Ramos, stated: "We are well pleased with the extraordinary results that the company delivered in 2022. While the positive price environment during the year contributed to the record earnings that  we published today, our long-term view of the lithium market, the investments we made in new capacity, the risk we took and the operational success, all of that well positioned us to benefit from the market conditions seen last year."

He continued, "The successful public-private alliance we have with CORFO is also yielding great results, allowing us to contribute more than US$5 billion to the Chilean treasury, along with important contributions to local governments and neighboring communities."

He went on by saying, "As electric vehicle sales continue to grow, we now expect the lithium demand to reach almost 1.5 million metric tons by 2025. This strong demand growth expectations give us confidence as we remain focused on expanding our lithium production capacity. In Chile, we have reached a run-rate of 180,000 metric tons of high-quality lithium products while working to further expand our lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide capacity. With our lithium project in Australia in construction, we expect to be producing spodumene from the Mt. Holland site by the end of the year and lithium hydroxide during the first half of 2025. The Sichuan refinery is expected to be completed in the second quarter this year while we continue to invest in lithium exploration. Our 2023-2025 revised capital expenditure plan reflects our growth plans during this period."

The CEO closed by saying, "Last year, we announced our vision for the sustainable future of lithium mining operations in the Salar de Atacama. Our team is fully dedicated advancing on the technical documentation that we expect to submit for evaluation to the Chilean authorities in 2024. We remain very optimistic about the Salar Futuro project, which when implemented, will ensure that the lithium products from the Salar de Atacama are produced in the most sustainable way, setting new standards, not just for the lithium industry, but for the mining industry as a whole." 

Sustainable Development

In line with our sustainability goals, during 2022, we continued with IRMA certification process and completed on-site certification audit (phase 2) in the Salar de Atacama operation. We expect to receive final report in the coming months.  

In 2022, we participated in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) assessment and were accepted into the MILA and Chile indices for the third consecutive year and were included in the Sustainability Yearbook 2023. Additionally, we evaluated ourselves in Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) where we obtained category B, which is in the management band, higher than the South American region average (C) and higher than the Chemicals sector average (-B).

During 2022, we completed the phase 2 of ISO 14001 and 45001 certification process in Salar de Atacama and the Carmen chemical plant, and continued with the implementation process of ISO 50001 in the Salar de Atacama and Nueva Victoria to support decarbonization goals associated with energy management systems.

About SQM

SQM is a global company that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Santiago Stock Exchange (NYSE: SQM; Santiago Stock Exchange: SQM-B, SQM-A). SQM develops and produces diverse products for several industries essential for human progress, such as health, nutrition, renewable energy and technology through innovation and technological development. We aim to maintain our leading world position in the lithium, potassium nitrate, iodine and thermo-solar salts markets.

For further information, contact:
Gerardo Illanes 56–2–24252022 / [email protected]
Kelly O'Brien 56–2–24252074 / [email protected] 
Irina Axenova 56–2–24252280 / [email protected]
Isabel Bendeck 56–2–24252074 / [email protected]

For media inquiries, contact:

Maria Ignacia Lopez / [email protected]
Pablo Pisani / [email protected]

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate," "plan," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make concerning the Company's capital expenditures, financing sources, Sustainable Development Plan, Salar Futuro Plan, business and demand outlook, future economic performance, anticipated sales volumes, profitability, revenues, expenses, or other financial items, anticipated cost synergies and product or service line growth.

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are estimates that reflect the best judgment of SQM management based on currently available information. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that are outside of our control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated in such statements, including our ability to successfully implement the Sustainable Development Plan. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Readers are referred to the documents filed by SQM with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including the most recent annual report on Form 20–F, which identifies other important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to SQM on the date hereof and SQM assumes no obligation to update such statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, S.A. (SQM)