By Fabian Cambero, Divya Rajagopal and Tom Daly
SANTIAGO, April 10 (Reuters) - Chile is set to break with precedent and open its annual global copper gathering next week with a day of panels devoted to lithium, as it seeks to decisively diversify beyond the red metal that has powered its economy for decades.
The inaugural World Lithium Conference, organised by consultancy CRU and the International Lithium Association, will kick off what the copper industry knows as CESCO Week in Santiago on Monday.
After months in the doldrums, lithium prices have rebounded to more than two-year highs as concerns over oil supplies from the war-hit Middle East spur fresh interest in the metal used in batteries for electric vehicles.
Lithium supply is meanwhile tightening due to the closure of a key mine in China, an export ban in Zimbabwe, and dwindling lithium carbonate stocks.
Chile has the world's third-largest lithium resources - after Argentina and Bolivia - at 13 million tons, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
NEW PRESIDENT, NEW EXPECTATIONS
With five mining companies, including Rio Tinto , angling for development rights, Chile's new president, José Antonio Kast, is spoilt for choice as the country puts its vast deposits up for partnerships.
"The lithium strategy rolled out in 2023 was a pretty good direction, so what we are hoping is the new government takes it up and makes it simpler and faster to award new contracts," said Ignacio Mehech, CEO of CleanTech Lithium.
London-listed CleanTech has been awarded a license to produce lithium, but it still needs an environmental permit to mine. It is fundraising to contract a $750 million mine on the edge of the lithium-rich Salar de Laguna Verde.
MORE MINES AND MORE DEMAND
There is strong momentum behind lithium, with the number of active mining operations globally doubling over the past four years to reach close to 80 mines in 2026, according to CRU.
Demand for lithium in stationary batteries continues to grow, helping to offset weakness in the EV market, said CRU's head of lithium and battery materials, Martin Jackson.
"Lithium will remain the most competitive technology for its energy density for many years to come,” he said.
Lithium carbonate prices in China are expected to average around $22 per kilogram this year, excluding VAT, according to CRU, an increase of about 135% from the previous year.
The investor community is also bullish. Investment bank Macquarie estimates global lithium demand will jump by more than 20% a year through the end of the decade due to demand from energy storage, even as growth in EV demand eases.
"Current market tightness suggests a compelling setup for sustained upward price momentum as demand inevitably outstrips delayed supply," said Asad Farid, director of the strategic materials equity fund at J. Safra Sarasin Sustainable Asset Management.
US-CHINA TENSIONS WEIGH
Chile's further diversification into lithium comes at a time when tensions between China and the U.S. are spilling over into natural resource-rich regions like South America.
China has steadily increased its share of global lithium demand over the past four years, rising from 75% to nearly 90%. The Guangzhou Futures Exchange price for lithium has established itself as an industry benchmark.
Chile has already had a taste of the type of diplomatic balancing act required as it pursues a China Mobile-backed fibre-optic link between the wine town of Valparaiso and Hong Kong despite U.S. objections.
"With the current approach of President Trump, perhaps we have to think twice if we go for Chinese investors," said Marcelo Awad, a mining veteran in Chile who is advising Wealth Minerals, a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed lithium company.
Wealth Minerals is in talks with India's state-run Coal India Limited about a potential joint venture and is looking for investors for its $750 million lithium mine.
However, some believe that Chile should continue with its neutral stance.
"The biggest discussion here right now is how Chile will manage to keep good relations with every country, including China," CleanTech's Mehech said, adding that Chile cannot afford to choose one country over the other.
(Reporting by Fabián Cambero, Divya Rajagopal in Toronto and Tom Daly in London; Editing by Veronica Brown, Ernest Scheyder and Edwina Gibbs)
