Portuguese Prime Minister urges Spain to take advantage of the joint potential of lithium

Lisbon (Portugal), June 3 (EFE), (Camera: Paula Fernández).- The Prime Minister of Portugal, the socialist António Costa, urged Spain this Friday to jointly take advantage of the potential of its lithium reserves and advance with phases of the value chain such as refining and batteries.

STATEMENTS BY THE PORTUGUESE PRIME MINISTER, ANTÓNIO COSTA, DURING A MEETING WITH SPANISH BUSINESSMEN ORGANIZED BY THE PORTUGUESE-SPANISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN A LISBON HOTEL.

Translation:

"Portugal and Spain have some of the best reserves of natural resources in lithium and we cannot understand lithium as the end of the electric mobility value chain. On the contrary, it is the beginning of that line and we have to have the ambition to having the capacity here in the Iberian Peninsula of the other phases where the added value is more effective: refining, cell synthesis and battery assembly. It is not an easy exercise to do together, because we are in a phase where each manufacturer wants to make its own battery. It is a phase that must be temporary, because one day electric batteries will be like the batteries that our cars already have and that are identical and standardized regardless of the vehicle that is purchased. But for now they are in a strategy still of differentiation and that is useful and necessary for the competition to stimulate innovation, knowledge and quality of batteries, but there are processes that can be common and joints that we must do. A large part of the models of the main European car brands are installed and produced on the Iberian Peninsula, and we have, must and can collaborate together".

"The Iberian Peninsula, with the capacity already installed at this time, has the conditions to supply almost 30% of the needs of Europe as a whole. With some investment we can supply more, and that is what we have to know how to value in our position, because that gives a lot of value to our geostrategic position and the economic potential of our countries".