SQM reports Q4 EPS 25c, consensus 20c

Reports Q4 revenue $513.8M, consensus $479.07M. CEO Ricardo Ramos stated: "Last year was particularly positive from an operational point of view. As a result of the effort and dedication of all of our workers, we were able to successfully implement effective protocols which allowed us to maintain our production facilities operating throughout the year. Despite the different restrictions implemented aimed at prioritizing the health of our workers, collaborators and nearby communities, we were able to exceed all our original goals related to production volumes, sustainability, cost and quality in all of our business lines. In particular, I want to highlight our lithium carbonate operations, in which our production surpassed 70,000 metric tons in 2020 and in which all quality indices exceeded our objectives for the year. Our production trends remain very positive, during the first two months of 2021, we have produced more than 7,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate per month. All of the above allows us to be optimistic about our goal of completing our new lithium carbonate expansion, which is expected to reach 120,000 metric tons by the end of this year and 180.000 metric tons at the end of 2023. Another significant milestone in 2020 was the compliance with quantity, logistics capacity and strict quality control of solar salt shipments that exceeded 160,000 metric tons. We believe that that we are prepared to satisfy the market needs with the annual volumes of over 200,000 metric tons of solar salts... The fourth quarter was not only the quarter with the highest operating margin of the year, but it also set a historical record for lithium sales volumes. We sold more than 25,000 metric tons and complied with all logistics, production and quality restrictions, a clear sign that we are prepared to continue to grow rapidly as one of the main lithium suppliers for the battery industry. Our lithium sales volumes rose more than 40% in the year despite the market growing approximately 6%, proving that we have indisputable competitive advantages related to production costs and capacity, logistics response and high-quality production."