比亚迪与智利锂生产商谈判以保障供应

BYD, the Chinese electric car and bus company part-owned by Warren Buffett, is talking to lithium producers in Chile about securing supplies.

比亚迪(BYD)正在与智利的锂生产商谈判以保障供应，这家中国电动汽车和电动公共汽车制造商由沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)部分持股。

Fred Ni, vice-president of BYD America, said the company was considering options including partnerships, supply agreements and direct investments.

比亚迪美国副总裁倪宜东(Fred Ni)表示，该公司正在考虑若干选择，包括合作伙伴关系、供应协议和直接投资。

“It’s still in negotiation stage. We haven’t defined which model it will be,” he said at the CRU world copper conference in Santiago.

他在智利首都圣地亚哥举行的英国商品研究所(CRU)世界铜业会议上表示：“目前还在谈判阶段。我们还没有确定会选择哪种模式。”

“We consume 20 per cent of the lithium supply in the world — that means we have a strong interest to secure stable supply.”

“我们消费全球锂供应的20%，这意味着我们对保障稳定供应有强烈兴趣。”

Chile is one of the largest sources of lithium. The battery ingredient is extracted from brine trapped beneath the Atacama Desert.

智利是锂的最大来源之一。这种电池原材料是从阿塔卡马沙漠(Atacama Desert)下的矿床提取的。

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) and US-based Albemarle are two of the largest producers in Chile, and Codelco, the state-owned copper company, has been looking at developing deposits.

智利化工矿业公司(Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile，SQM)和总部位于美国的Albemarle是智利两大生产商，国有的铜公司Codelco也在考虑开发锂矿。