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PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DE CHILE 
FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS ECONÓMICAS Y ADMINISTRATIVAS 
DECISIONES DE INVERSIÓN FINANCIERA 
SECCIÓN 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Entrega Nº1: 
 
Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Profesores: 
Gonzalo Fanjul 
Francisco Jiménez 
 
Integrantes: 
Vicente García C. 
Sebastián López Q. 
Andrés Berndt B. 
Eitan Mordoh R. 
María de los Ángeles González I. 
Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) is a global company that focuses on various 
industries that are strategic for human development, such as healthcare, food, clean 
energy, technologies that promote global development, among others. The company is 
based on two main competitive advantages: an integrated, synergy based and low cost 
production, with a wide geographic diversification of sales thanks to an extensive 
distribution network, and high quality mineral reserves (Caliche ore and Brine deposits) 
available for its exploitation. These raw materials allow the entity to obtain multiple 
compounds through the extraction of non-metallic minerals, achieving significant 
economies of scale in production. 
Caliche deposits contain nitrates, iodine and potassium. Brines from the Salar de Atacama 
contain potassium, lithium, sulphate, boron and magnesium. Exploitation concessions 
essentially grant a perpetual right, but Salar de Atacama rights are an exception as they 
were leased to SQM until 2030. The lease payment rate is a progressive rate depending 
on lithium carbonate and potassium nitrate price per metric ton (MT). 
The company has various strategic alliances: China, India, Peru, Brazil, Dubai, South 
Africa and the Netherlands. In addition to a high growth rate in recent years (as a company 
and market in general) and constant innovation in its different lines of business. 
Nonetheless, the company experiences several weaknesses and threats. In a highly 
competitive industry, top quality employees are required to be a leader, if there is a high 
turnover of professional staff, it makes it difficult to transfer experiences and produce 
correct organizational learning. On the other hand, SQM highlights exposure to price 
volatility of commodities and fuels, exchange rate, political shifts, taxation and regulations 
as the main macro environmental factors in strategic management. The supply of certain 
fertilizers or chemicals, including certain products which the company trades, vary mainly 
depending on the production of top producers and their related business strategies. 
Accordingly, the company cannot forecast with certainty changes in demand, responses 
from competitors or fluctuations in the final price of its products. The financial statements 
of SQM are reported in US Dollars. However, approximately 30% of costs are in CLP. 
Changes in the USD/CLP exchange rate could have a large effect on the company's 
bottom line. 
Political shifts related to 2020 October plebiscite probably won’t affect the essence of SQM 
nor the natural resource markets. In the long term however, constitutional changes could 
affect mining rights, concessions and water rights that are essential to SQM’s operations. 
The Chilean National Congress is processing a bill which may enable the expropriation of 
lithium assets from SQM due to declaring this mineral to be of national interest. Under 
Chilean law, companies that exploit natural resources are subject to a special “royalty” tax. 
This tax could change in the future, affecting the company's earnings. 
The company is subject to the full range of government regulations including labor, social 
security, public health, consumer protection, tax, environmental, free competition and 
securities laws. Many of SQM’s future projects and, therefore, much of its future cash flow 
depends on government approval, which is not guaranteed. Also, changes in laws and 
regulations may affect SQM’s ability to make necessary investments for projected 
expansions. There are no new regulation changes expected in the foreseeable future. 
The company’s opportunities are tied to a sustained increase in demand for almost all the 
company’s products, but particularly for carbonate lithium as it is the main component for 
electric car batteries. Moreover, in an industry where innovation is the key to success, 
SQM maintains a close relationship with R&D programs and industrial activities. Research 
is performed by three different units, whose research topics cover all the processes 
involved in the production of products, including chemical process design, phase 
chemistry, chemical analysis methodologies and physical properties of finished products. 
SQM business model can be split into five business units: Special Plant Nutrition (SPN), 
iodine and its derivatives, lithium and its derivatives, potassium, and industrial chemicals. 
1- Special Plant Nutrition (SPN) 
Special plant nutrition represents 34% of SQM’s gross profit and is one of the main drivers 
of the stock’s market value. Having an estimated market share of 51% (sales volume of 
1,041 kMT/year, the company produces four main types of specialty plant nutrients: 
potassium nitrate (KNO3), sodium nitrate (NaNO3), specialty blends and other specialty 
fertilizers. 
Market demand is driven by the continued growth rate of per capita consumption of fruits 
and vegetables, which has increased over the last ten years at a rate of 5% per year. 
However, expected growth of the potassium nitrate market for 2020 is 3% due to COVID-
19. It is important to note that SQM competes indirectly with substitutes like sodium 
carbonate (Na2CO3) and ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3). 
Plants need three types of components to grow, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium 
(NPK). KNO3 is a high value-added compound for some crops, as it is chlorine-free 
(preventing chloride toxicity). Some crops don’t absorb Cl, however the ones that do, and 
are exposed to these chemicals, have lower value. The plant nutrients sold by SQM are 
used mainly as fertilizers in high value crops. These types of fertilizers are better than 
other commodity fertilizers because they don’t require nitrification and therefore are 
absorbed more rapidly and effectively. Another advantage of SQM’s KNO3 is the natural 
in their origin, making it more attractive to consumers who prefer natural fertilizers. One of 
the main differences is that KNO3 is soluble in water, so it is easier to fertilize crops than 
its substitutes. Nonetheless, potassium nitrate depends greatly on potassium chloride’s 
price as it is one of the two components for its production. The other component that is 
needed is NaNO3. 
KNO3 substitutes are potassium chloride (KCl) and potassium sulphate (K2SO4). KCl is a 
bigger market than KNO3, with 65,000 kMT/year but with small growth (CAGR of 1.8%). 
Marginal cost of producing this commodity is low, producing an oversupply. SQM produces 
its own KCl as it is needed to produce KNO3. KCl international guild broke down so now 
everyone sells at market price (instead of the price fixed by the guild). SQM’s KCl 
production is at 700 kMT/year. Nonetheless, KCl production is considered Cash Cow for 
SQM. K2SO4 is a much smaller market, with a production of only 6 kMT/year worldwide. 
The composition of suppliers in this market is quite fragmented: no supplier nor customer 
represents more than 10% of the cost of the SPN sales line and revenues, respectively. 
The company is the world's major producer and its biggest competitor in potassium nitrate 
is Haifa Chemicals (Israel) with only 16% of global sales. SQM products compete mainly 
in the blends area. 
In general terms, the SQM focuses primarily on the markets where it can sell plant 
nutrients in soluble and foliar applications in order to establish a leadership position and 
further develop their global distribution and marketing system directly and through 
strategic alliances with otherproducers and global or local distributors. It also aims to 
reduce production costs through improved processes and higher labor productivity so as 
to compete more effectively and supply a product with consistent quality according to the 
specific requirements of the company’s customers. 
 
2- Iodine and Derivatives 
This business unit represents 39% of SQM’s gross profit. As indicated in SQM’s annual 
report, the company is one of the world’s most important producers of Iodine and its 
derivatives with an estimated market share of 34% (sales volume of 12.8 kMT/year) and 
a large variety of uses like industrial, medical, agricultural and pharmaceutical 
applications. 
Demand for iodine varies depending upon overall levels of economic activity, but mainly 
on the level of demand in the medical, pharmaceutical, industrial and other sectors that 
are the main users of iodine and derivative products. So, demand should be stable 
enough, price will be determined by supply. Then, it has had a CAGR of 3% over the last 
30 years. 
Potential advantages are derived from the fact that Chile is the only country in the world 
that can produce iodine from Caliche Ore, where it is possible to extract I2 & NaNO3. SQM’s 
competitors in the iodine industry don’t work with NaNO3, so their costs are much higher. 
Just as with KNO3, SQM is both the player with the lowest extraction cost and highest 
extraction capacity. It is the only one with enough capacity to keep growing in the 
industry. 
In 2019, SQM sold iodine products in approximately 48 countries to approximately 279 
customers, and most of the sales were exports. Only two customers accounted for more 
than 10% of iodine revenues each in 2019, both accounted for approximately 31% of 
revenues. 
SQM strategy is to reach and maintain a sufficient market share of the iodine market in 
order to optimize the use of available production capacity. It also aims to encourage 
demand growth and promote new iodine uses through participation in iodine recycling 
projects. In terms of efficiency, SQM aims to reduce production costs through improved 
processes and higher productivity in order to compete more effectively while supplying a 
product with consistent quality according to the requirements of the company’s customers. 
 
3- Lithium and Derivatives 
Lithium and derivatives represent 15% of SQM’s gross profit and is the current driver of 
the stock price because of the expected future cash flow it`s expected to yield. The 
company is a world leader in the production of lithium carbonate, with an estimated market 
share of 15% that positions it as the second biggest supplier worldwide (sales volume of 
45 kMT/year). Current production capacity is 70 kMT per year but the company is in the 
process of increasing production capacity to 120 kMY per year. This product is used in a 
wide variety of industries: it is a key electrochemical component of batteries, a key 
component for the fabrication of heat resistant glass, air conditioning chemicals and 
pharmaceutical products. 
Lithium has three main usage categories: 
i- Industrial: Traditional uses such as aluminum alloys, ceramics, glass, pharmaceutical, 
lubricants, high-performance rubber, among others. This sector grows according to the 
business cycle of the economy + 2pp, approximately 5% per year. 
ii- Portable electronic devices: It is used in batteries for these devices. This sector has 
been growing over the past decade at about 8% but now it’s de-accelerating because of 
lower penetration, second markets for devices and a more delayed obsolescence of 
devices and batteries. This category represents about 23% of the lithium demand. 
iii- Electric cars: Currently, batteries for electric cars represent 46% of the total lithium 
demand. In order to have an idea of the potential of this market, 1 million electric cars use 
50 kMT of Li2CO3 (lithium carbonate) or LiOH (lithium hydroxide). This means that an 
increase of 1% in electric car sales implies a 17% increase in lithium demand. The 
company expects to be selling 150 kMT per year by 2025. 
Nowadays, the worldwide demand for lithium is 300 kMT/year, but by 2025 a demand of 
800-900 kMT/year is expected considering the growth in electric car demand. This is a 
market growth that does not happen in the commodities market (it happens in the 
cellphone market, where demand is exponential). SQM is the competitor with the lowest 
cost curve, in other words, it is more efficient than their competitors in the lithium industry. 
Currently there are no direct substitutes for lithium for its main uses. In categories that 
lithium is used as a battery, it is proven that lithium-ion batteries charge faster, last longer 
and have a higher power density than traditional batteries, making it really hard to change 
the usage of lithium batteries in the short term. 
SQM sells to approximately 185 customers. There are two major customers that 
accounted for a combined total of 34% of the lithium revenues in 2019 and the ten largest 
customers account for approximately 69% of revenues. SQM is one of the largest 
producers of lithium around the world, however the biggest competitors are Albemarle 
(25%), Livent (7%) and Talison. 
SQM’s strategy is to allocate sales of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide and 
encourage demand growth and promote new lithium uses. Also, the company aims 
selectively to pursue opportunities in the lithium derivatives business by creating new 
lithium compounds. 
In terms of efficiency the company aims to reduce production costs through improved 
processes and higher productivity in order to compete more effectively in order to supply 
a product with consistent quality according to the requirements of the company’s 
customers. Finally, SQM is pursuing to diversify Lithium operations geographically and 
jurisdictionally. 
 
4- Potassium 
Potassium is one of the products extracted from brines in Salar de Atacama. While it 
represents 3% of SQM’s gross profit, the company has less than a 1% market share even 
though sale volume is approximately 597 kMT. The main potassium products are 
potassium chloride and potassium sulphate. 
Demand for potassium is driven by population growth, higher demand for protein-based 
diets and less arable land. For the last ten years, the compound annual growth for the 
global potassium chloride market was around 1 - 2%. 
The company sells potassium sulfate to approximately 514 customers in approximately 38 
countries. It is important to note that one customer accounted for more than 10% of the 
revenues of potassium chloride and potassium sulfate in 2019. Ten of the largest 
customers accounted in aggregate for approximately 44% of the revenues in this business. 
In the supply side, one supplier accounted for more than 10% of the cost of sales. Their 
main competitors are Nutrien, Uralkalim, Belaruskali and Mosaic. For the potassium 
sulfate market, they also have important competitors such as K+S KALI GmbH, 
Tessenderlo Chemie and Great Salt Lake Minerals Corp. 
SQM’s strategy in the potassium business is to offer a portfolio of potassium products, 
including potassium sulfate, potassium chloride and other fertilizers, to traditional markets 
and to have flexibility to offer crystalized (standard) or granular (compacted) form products 
according to market requirements. SQM aims to focus on markets where they have 
logistical advantages and synergies with specialty plant nutrition business and finally and 
most importantly supply a product with consistent quality according to the specific 
requirements of the company’s customers. 
 
5- Industrial Chemicals 
The company is a world leader in the production of these chemicals with an estimated 
market share of 41% (sales volume of 124 kMT). Industrial chemicals represent 9% of 
SQM’s gross profit. SQM focuses on three industrial chemicals: 
• Potassium nitrate (KNO3): used for manufacturing of specialty glass and ceramics.It 
is also used for metal treatment and pyrotechnics. 
• Sodium nitrate (NaNO3): used in the production of glass, explosives, metal treatment, 
metal recycling and insulation materials. 
• Potassium chloride (KCl): it is used for the manufacturing of potassium hydroxide. 
Other uses include as an additive to oil drilling and food processing. 
Beside these industrial chemicals, SQM also produces solar salts which are a mixture of 
potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate and are used as a thermal storage medium in solar 
plants. To have an idea of the significance of this business line, a 50-megawatt parabolic 
Concentrated Solar Power Plants (CSP) plant requires 30 kMT of solar salts each year. 
The company’s expected sales for 2020 are 150 kMT and 400 kMT for 2020 - 2022 as 
SQM is being hired as a supplier for a parabolic CSP plant in the Middle East that would 
consume 450 kMT/year. The client’s request led SQM to build a new Solar Salts 
processing plant. 
SQM is one of the companies with the best “low-cost” production system for the industrial 
sodium and potassium nitrate business. This gives SQM a competitive advantage in this 
market. The company currently is the only supplier of solar salts in the world. The industrial 
sodium nitrate products compete indirectly with substitute chemicals (sodium carbonate, 
sodium sulfate, calcium nitrate and ammonium nitrate). 
Only one customer accounted for more than 10% of the revenues in this market during 
2019. The ten largest customers accounted for approximately 59% of the revenues. On 
the supply side, no supplier accounted for more than 10% of the cost of sales in this 
market, the competitors of SQM are mainly based in Europe and Asia. In the refined grade 
sodium, the main competitors are BASF AG and several producers in China and Eastern 
Europe. The main competitor in the industrial potassium nitrate is Haifa Chemicals. 
SQM’s strategy in the industrial chemical business is to maintain a leadership position in 
the industrial nitrates market and to encourage demand growth in different applications as 
well as exploring new potential ones. This will enable SQM to become a long-term, reliable 
supplier for the thermal storage industry. has to be done by maintaining close relationships 
with R&D programs and industrial initiatives aiming to reduce production costs through 
improved processes and higher productivity in order to compete more effectively and 
supply a product with consistent quality according to the requirements of the company’s 
customers. 
The following section will be solely focused in quantitative analysis considering the growth 
of the main KPI, margins, solvency, liquidity, profitability, degrees of leverage and stock 
price analysis. All data is in table 1. Then, the main income/cost analysis and cash analysis 
will be explained. Later, key variables and how they have evolved will be discussed. 
Finally, cash situation analysis will conclude the section. 
During 2019, revenues reached US$ 1,944 million, with a decrease of 14.22% compared 
to 2018. Historical yearly growth of revenues (previous 3 years) was an average of 9.49%. 
The cost of sales at the end of 2019, decreased 6.86%. Historically, costs had grown at a 
rate of 7.85% each year (previous 3 years). The company’s EBITDA generation capacity 
during 2019 reached US$627 million, 29.21% less than in 2018, interrupting a continued 
yearly growth rate of 12%. The reasons for the decreasing numbers are explained by civil 
disturbances in Chile in the last quarter of 2019 and a tense trade war between the United 
States and China. 
On the other hand, the results and margins of the company have an inherent volatility 
related to the price of commodities and the prevailing market conditions in the economy. 
Nonetheless, compared to 2018, 2019’s EBIT margin and Net income margin decreased 
approximately 7 and 5 percentual points, respectively. From 29.42% to 22.31% and 
19.51% to 14.44%. Its position as a low-cost producer worldwide allowed SQM to maintain 
positive profitability. The company’s profitability is solid and steady. 
SQM has a strong liquidity position and a moderate indebtedness and maintenance of 
high financial debt coverage. The company has a solid capacity to pay all short term, 
business-cycle related liabilities as all previous current ratios and quick ratios have been 
above 3.3 and 2.06, respectively. Moreover, SQM has enough cash to, on average, cover 
85% of current liabilities. Even though both, the total current assets and the total current 
liabilities grew during 2019, current liabilities grew more drastically (39.8%) in comparison 
to the total current assets that only 11.83%. The financial coverage ratio over the last 5 
years has been 12.4x on average. At the end of 2019 SQM ended with a 8.1x ratio in 
comparison to 2018 where the company ended with a coverage of 15.3x. The main 
reasons for this striking reduction are because EBITDA decreased, and the financial costs 
increased due to all the recent events that the company had to go through. The 
indebtedness was 1.19x at the end of 2019 compared to a 1x at the end of 2018. The Net 
financial debt increased in 2019, ending in US$720 million compared to 2018 where it was 
US$472 million (52% increase). 
As seen in table 1, the company had been having increasing returns on equity and assets 
up until 2019. Through DuPont decomposition we can see that ROE’s decrease from 
20.16% to 13.14% is mainly due to a decrease in EBIT margin. All four other components 
remained steady. The same can be said for return on assets, as it decreased from 15.6% 
to 9.7% due to a lower EBIT margin. Thus, the most probable reason is that flow variables 
(revenues and expenses) decreased while selling, general & administrative (SG&A) 
remained stable. 
Degrees of leverage show the percentage change EBIT would have if revenues increased 
by 1% (DOL), change EBT will have if EBIT increases by 1% (DFL) and the percentual 
change Net Income will have if revenues increased by 1% (DTL). Table 1 shows that the 
degrees of leverage have been stable through the past 5 years, with changes not bigger 
than 3pp. 
Stock analysis considers the stock split of 2008 and 2016, no new stock issue has been 
recorded in SQM’s history and the company has no preferential stock nor outstanding 
debt. Thus, diluted EPS is the same as basic EPS. The trajectory of the stock price for 
SQM for the last five years can be seen in graph 1. In 2017 SQM’s stock price rallied 
mainly due to expectations of future Lithium demand provided by the expected expansion 
of electric car production. In 2018 and 2019 these expectations cooled down due to the 
trade tensions between the US, the European Union and China. In 2020 the stock dipped 
along with the rest of the financial markets due to COVID-19 but the price has restored to 
pre-covid levels in the last few months. As of September 15, 2020, the stock price closed 
at US$33.79 with a traded volume of 889,400 shares and a market capitalization around 
US$8.93 billions. 
Most of the income drivers were mentioned in the previous section when discussing the 
insights of each business line, but price and quantity trajectory can be studied. Table 2 is 
constructed by using income origin found in the income statement and average price 
stated in annual reports. SPN prices have been stable the last three years, iodine and 
potassium show a clear upward tendency, lithium -as discussed on the business line 
insight- has been volatile as 2018 demand increase led to an increase in supply, increasing 
price volatility. Finally, Industrial chemicals prices are decreasing as the company is able 
to reduce its costs. Regarding quantities sold, we can see stability and correlation with 
price of the product, the most notorious case is potassium as production decreased about 
56% in three years even as price increased 30%. On the other hand, lithium production 
did not decrease in 2019 as a partof production is being stored in inventory, waiting for 
an increase in prices. 
As for the variable costs, the majority of these are associated with raw materials and 
consumables used, benefits for employees and freight and product transport costs, as 
shown in table 3. SQM does not consider D&A as SG&A but as COGS, thus significantly 
affecting gross profit. A considerable portion of these expenses (around 30%) are in 
Chilean pesos (CLP), which has considerably depreciated in the last 3 years directly 
affecting income statement. 
SQM has some variables in their operations that are key to analyze. The first key variable 
is “the mining claims, water rights and rights of way” that have an indefinite useful life; 
these rights at the end of 2018 were logged as intangible assets with a net value of US$182 
million and at the end of 2019 their net value was US$179 million. The decrease in value 
can be attributed to the sale of some of these rights. 
The second key variable to mention are the CORFO Rights, that are considered as a cost 
of sales. At the end of 2018 it was valued at US$12 million and by the end of 2019 it 
increased to US$17 million. This means that these rights are getting more expensive to 
the firm. 
A third key variable is the dividend policy, in April 2019, in the shareholders meeting it was 
modified the distribution from 65% to 50% of the profits. This change was based on a lower 
economic activity in 2009 and a higher cash requirement associated with an intensive 
investment plan. As of September 2020, the policy has remained at 50%, however, if they 
meet certain financial parameters the dividend distribution can be 60%, 80% or a 100% of 
the profits for the year. 
A last variable to highlight is the mining royalty. In 2005, the government of Chile 
established a special tax to the mining activities performed in the country. During 2010 
there were changes to this law and the taxes raised even more. For this reason, SQM 
provided a royalty provision of 5% that involved operations in the Salar de Atacama and a 
provision of 5.24% for the caliche extraction operations. The Chilean National Congress 
is currently processing a bill, bulletin 12,093-08, which proposes to institute a royalty fee 
of 3% on the value of extracted minerals. The bill is subject to further discussion in the 
Chilean National Congress, which includes several possible changes to its current 
wording. 
Finally, in regard to the “cash situation”, data of table 4 shows that SQM has a ratio of 
cash/current assets similar to those of other Chilean companies in the mining industry. 
However, SQM has a much higher cash/total assets ratio than the other companies. The 
risks facing these groups of companies are not the same as SQM but fairly similar. 
 
Annexes 
 
Table 1 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 
Growth (Y/Y) 
Revenues 12,21% 11,24% 5,03% -14,22% 
EBITDA 14,22% 18,00% 3,78% -29,21% 
Cash Flow from Operations 48,29% 11,10% -25,45% -18,65% 
Net Income 29,72% 51,96% 3,19% -36,52% 
 
Profitability 
EBIT margin(%) 20,91% 23,14% 28,65% 29,42% 22,31% 
EBITDA margin (%) 36,63% 37,29% 39,56% 39,08% 32,25% 
Net income margine (%) 12,57% 14,54% 19,86% 19,51% 14,44% 
 
Liquidity 
Current Ratio 3,84 4,02 3,30 4,32 3,45 
Quick Ratio (CA - Inventory) 2,41 2,31 2,09 2,67 2,19 
Cash ratio 0,75 0,89 0,84 1,00 0,76 
 
Solvency 
Total debt ($M USD) 1.692.233,00 1.272.582,00 1.251.835,00 1.353.967,00 1.817.748,00 
Net debt ($M USD) 1.164.974,00 757.913,00 621.397,00 797.901,00 1.229.218,00 
Equity ($M USD) 2.400.356,00 2.307.272,00 2.247.468,00 2.137.802,00 2.134.472,00 
Net Debt/Equity (%) 48,53% 32,85% 27,65% 37,32% 57,59% 
Total Debt / EBITDA 2,7x 1,8x 1,5x 1,5x 2,9x 
Net Debt/EBITDA 1,8x 1,0x 0,7x 0,9x 2,0x 
EBITDA/Financial Costs 9,1x 12,6x 17,0x 15,3x 8,1x 
Payout ratio 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 
 
Efficiency 
NWC as % of revenues 73,41% 64,12% 56,11% 55,58% 63,67% 
PP&E as % of revenues 97,41% 79,03% 66,62% 64,21% 82,68% 
Invested capital (Net debt + Equity) 3.565.330,00 3.065.185,00 2.868.865,00 2.935.703,00 3.363.690,00 
Invested capital as % of revenues 206,29% 158,05% 132,98% 129,57% 173,06% 
 
Returns 
EBIAT ($M USD) 263.836 327.588 451.185 486.587 316.568 
Return On Invested Capital (ROIC) 7,40% 10,69% 15,73% 16,57% 9,41% 
Return on Equity (ROE) 9,05% 11,98% 18,81% 20,16% 13,14% 
Tax Burden (NI/EBT) 72,18% 67,95% 72,05% 71,18% 71,83% 
Interest Burden(EBT/EBIT) 83,31% 92,45% 96,20% 93,17% 90,08% 
EBIT Margin (EBIT/Revenues) 20,91% 23,14% 28,65% 29,42% 22,31% 
Asset Turn Over (Revenues/Average Asset) 0,4x 0,4x 0,5x 0,5x 0,4x 
Financial Leverage (A/E) 1,9x 1,9x 1,9x 2,0x 2,1x 
Return on Assets (ROA) 7,8% 10,1% 14,5% 15,6% 9,7% 
EBIT Margin (EBIT/Revenues) 20,91% 23,14% 28,65% 29,42% 22,31% 
Asset Turn Over (Revenues/Average Asset) 0,4x 0,4x 0,5x 0,5x 0,4x 
 
Degrees of leverage 
DOL 1,5x 1,4x 1,2x 1,2x 1,3x 
DFL 1,7x 1,6x 1,4x 1,5x 1,5x 
DTL 2,5x 2,2x 1,8x 1,8x 2,0x 
 
Stock 
Price (USD) 18,51 28,65 59,37 38,30 26,69 
EPS 0,81 1,06 1,63 1,67 1,06 
P/E 22,85 27,10 36,54 22,92 25,26 
 
Source: Self-Made 
 
Table 2 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 
Sales (Th USD) 2.157.323,0 2.265.803,0 1.943.655,0 
Special Plant Nutrition (SPN) 697.251,0 781.751,0 723.920,0 
Iodine & Derivatives 252.123,0 324.972,0 371.020,0 
Lithium & Derivatives 644.573,0 734.801,0 505.714,0 
Industrial Chemicals 135.578,0 108.267,0 94.875,0 
Potassium 379.326,0 267.474,0 212.151,0 
 
Sales (average price USD/ton) 
Special Plant Nutrition (SPN) 722,0 722,0 695,0 
Iodine & Derivatives 20.000,0 24.000,0 29.000,0 
Lithium & Derivatives 12.970,0 16.289,0 11.212,0 
Industrial Chemicals 809,0 797,0 768,0 
Potassium 282,0 322,0 355,0 
 
Sales (kMT) 
Special Plant Nutrition (SPN) 965,7 1.082,8 1.041,6 
Iodine & Derivatives 12,6 13,5 12,8 
Lithium & Derivatives 49,7 45,1 45,1 
Industrial Chemicals 167,6 135,8 123,5 
Potassium 1.345,1 830,7 597,6 
 
Source: Self-Made 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 3 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 
Cost of sales (1.185.583,00) (1.328.285,00) (1.394.822,00) (1.485.631,00) (1.383.603,00) 
Raw materials and consumables used (335.192,00) (413.283,00) (260.869,00) (271.912,00) 
Classes of employee benefit expenses (162.335,00) (172.159,00) (203.571,00) (178.493,00) 
Depreciation expense (268.268,00) (271.239,00) (232.365,00) (212.641,00) (188.157,00) 
Depreciation of Right-of-use Assets 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 (5.450,00) 
Amortization expense (3.469,00) (3.210,00) (2.921,00) (6.376,00) (5.102,00) 
Investment plan expenses (16.624,00) (13.956,00) (11.860,00) (18.367,00) 
Provision for site closure (6.051,00) (5.306,00) (2.045,00) (911,00) 
Provision for materials, spare parts and supplies (9.498,00) (5.440,00) 1.721,00 (7.500,00) 
Contractors (62.300,00) (67.337,00) (120.923,00) (123.096,00) 
Operating leasses (90.325,00) (96.094,00) (37.245,00) (47.007,00) 
Mining concessions (7.313,00) (7.802,00) (8.168,00) (7.856,00) 
Operations transport (45.864,00) (54.057,00) (64.352,00) (56.376,00) 
Freight and product transport costs (132.260,00) (131.729,00) (51.387,00) (46.264,00) 
Purchase of products from third parties (125.456,00) (113.898,00) (182.695,00) (189.583,00) 
Insurance (12.110,00) (11.199,00) (11.923,00) (16.968,00) 
CORFO rights 0,00 0,00 (182.954,00) (143.861,00) 
Export costs 0,00 0,00 (107.418,00) (97.103,00) 
Expenses related to Variable Parts Leases 0,00 0,00 0,00 (1.096,00) 
Variation in inventory 0,00 0,00 20.597,00 52.557,00 
Variation in inventory provision 0,00 0,00 (8.997,00) 17.107,00 
Other (48.508,00) (67.276,00) (34.525,00) (48.165,00) 
 
Source: SQM annual reports 
 
 
Table 4 SQM Antofagasta 
Minerals 
MineraEscondida 
Codelco 
Cash and equivalent/Current 
assets 
0,219 0,181 0,259 0,216 
Cash and equivalent /total 
assets 
0,126 0,045 0,039 0,032 
 
Source: Self-Made 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Graphic 1 
 
Source: Bloomberg