Sustainability report
In 2023 we achieved great goals thanks to strategies developed for this, and also because of the daily dedication of the people who work in the company and our employees who are our best allies at SQM Iodine Plant Nutrition. This is why, in this year’s Sustainability Report we are presenting, in detail, all our achieved objectives, as well as the development of our activities, the protection of Human Rights as well as the protection of the environment, production processes, training and other relevant information for the community in general terms. This report has been validated by an external team to comply with the international requirements that govern the company.
We have been reporting under the principles of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for 12 years now, and since 2020 we have been reporting to the Communication on Progress (COP) of the Global Compact. In this new publication, we have included the SASB standard indicator report, which categorizes SQM in the chemical companies group.
See Report 2023 ESG Databook
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2022
We have been reporting under the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) principles for 13 years. Since 2020, we have included information about our management proceedings to achieve the goals described in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Global Compact to which we adhere.
We are committed to these transparency practices, which we carry out annually, and the fourth consecutive year we have opted for an external verification process of this report, in accordance with international requirements and internal goals. This verification process was carried out by Deloitte Advisory SpA. -
2021
We presented our Sustainability, Ethics and Human Rights Policy, which is aligned with our business strategy and reinforces our commitment to sustainable development, which is an unrestricted responsibility matter of the Board of Directors, senior management department and all of us who are part of SQM Iodine Plant Nutrition.
We were able to meet our operational and commercial goals, growing in volumes and revenues. This allows us to reinforce our global leadership in all our business areas, delivering products with high added value. -
2020
For 11 years, we have been reporting under the principles of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and this year we are reporting to the Communication on Progress (COP) of the Global Compact. This 2020 we reaffirmed our commitment to this practice of transparency, which will be carried out annually and that, as a company, we have opted to do for a second time, in order to get an external verification process for this report, meeting the new international requirements and achieving internal goals. This verification process was carried out by Deloitte Advisory SpA.
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2019
This year was full of challenges for our company, as well as for the entire country, testing our capabilities for which we have continued to monitor recent and future effects of what is happening in Chile and, as always, our priority has been the safety and welfare of our people, contractors and neighboring communities and external verifying entities.
We updated our Sustainability Development Policy, as well as achieving several environmental certifications, the most relevant being Responsible Care for the Nueva Victoria’s operations until 2022, and advancements in our “Green Lithium” project, with the strong conviction that at SQM sustainability must be an integral part of our daily work. -
2018
After celebrating half a century of life in 2018, we are recognized as a renewed company, with a new and modern corporate image, which marks a milestone in our evolution, and we can proudly say that we have achieved a high level of technological development in our production processes and we have expanded our commercial network, to the point of positioning ourselves as leaders in the lithium, iodine, specialty fertilizers and solar salts industries.
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2017
In this period, we were able to complete important projects and deliver concrete signals that support our strategy of consolidating our position as a relevant player in the various markets where we have presence.
We continue to contribute to social and productive developments in the Tarapaca and Antofagasta Regions, where our operations are located, and our focus was, once again, on the agricultural and educational development of these communities, in order to open up more job opportunities for young people, promoting technical training and entrepreneurship in areas that offer real horizons of improvement for them. -
2016
In terms of Corporate Social Responsibility, our focus during 2016 was more than ever on the development of education in the regions where we operate. Under this same paradigm, we have continued to deepen the Crea+ Mathematics Support Program in San Pedro de Atacama, Maria Elena and Pintados, which has had excellent results in measurement tests at a communal level.
In terms of projects, we began this year by reporting our expansion of our lithium business to Argentina, through a joint venture to develop an exploitation project in the Cauchari Sal Flats, in the Argentine province of Jujuy, with a production potential of 50 thousand tons of lithium carbonate per year. -
2015
We carried out important productive transformations, such as the partial stoppage of the Pedro de Valdivia mine, a measure that included mine and railroad operations, among other operations, but kept iodine production going. We determined that it was more efficient to focus its production efforts in the nitrates area and towards the Nueva Victoria plant.
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2014
This report version was the first to be developed based on the GRI4 guidelines in “Essential” conformity according to the level of adherence to GRI principles. SQM did not opt for external verification on this report. We are the world’s largest producer of iodine, potassium nitrate, lithium hydroxide, and industrial sodium nitrate; and a major producer of lithium carbonate. The fundamentals of each of our lines of business are sound, and keeps on growing on high demand. Although, we had to face lower prices in some of our lines of business, our company is known for producing at the lowest costs in most of the products it sells, and in 2014 we more than confirmed this trait.
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2013
We continued to make investments to provide our campsites with good infrastructure, and we have emphasized in the creation of recreational areas in order to permanently improve the living of our employees, while they are working at our operation sites.
At the same time, we continued to work tirelessly on occupational safety, systematically strengthening our work in risk prevention, in order to reach that goal that we have set for ourselves regarding zero accidents. As a company, we have a commitment and we know that we must strive every day to reach our goal of zero accidents, which all of us who work at SQM Iodine Plant Nutrition share and transmit to our collaborating companies as well. -
2012
Thanks to the dedication, effort and commitment of our entire team, we can proudly say that 2012 was a good year for SQM Iodine Plant Nutrition, because along with achieving good economic results, we continued our path for encouraging sustainable development, protecting the environment, strengthening ties with the community near our operations, as well as strengthening our workers growth.
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2011
During this year, we have marked a new milestone in the history of our company with great advancements, such as the inauguration of a new potassium nitrate plant together with Migao Corporation in China, allowing us to increase our presence in a key market such as the Asian Market. Also, the new potassium nitrate plant in Coya Sur is now fully operational, being the most modern potassium nitrate plant in the World, which means an increase of our production capacity by 300,000 tons.
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2010
The Sustainable Report of 2010 informs about management developed by SQM Iodine Plant Nutrition, both in the production area and in relation to shareholders, employees, customers, the environment and the community.