Company: SQM
Filing Date: 2025-04-24
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000909037-25-000020
Chunk: 138

Company: CHEMICAL & MINING CO OF CHILE INC
Filing Date: 2025-04-24
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 5
Chunk 138
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ITEM 5.       OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS
The information in this Item 5 should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
The Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).
5.A.Operating Results
Introduction
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements. Certain calculations (including percentages) that appear herein have been rounded.
Our Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB and presented in U.S. dollars.
We operate as an independent corporation.
Overview of Our Results of Operations
We divide our operations into the following business lines:
•the production and sale of specialty plant nutrients;
•the production and sale of iodine and its derivatives;
•the production and sale of lithium and its derivatives;
•the production and sale of potassium, including potassium chloride and potassium sulfate;
•the production and sale of industrial chemicals, principally industrial nitrates and solar salts; and
•the purchase and sale of other commodity fertilizers for use primarily in Chile.
We sell our products through three primary channels: our own sales offices, a network of distributors and, in the case of our fertilizer products, through third-party distribution network in countries where its presence and commercial infrastructure are larger than ours. Similarly, in those markets where our presence is larger, both our specialty plant nutrients and third-party products are marketed through our offices.
Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations
Our results of operations substantially depend on:
•trends in demand for and supply of our products, including global economic conditions, which impact prices and sales volumes;
•efficient operations of our facilities, particularly as some of them run at production capacity;
•our ability to accomplish our capital expenditures program in a timely manner;
•the levels of our inventories;
•trends in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Chilean peso, as a significant portion of the cost of sales is in Chilean pesos, and trends in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the euro, as a significant portion of our sales is denominated in euros; and
•energy, logistics, raw materials, labor and maintenance costs.
Impact of Foreign Exchange Rates
We transact a significant portion of our business in U.S. dollars, which is the currency