Chilean inorganics muscle into market: Chile has become a major player in lithium, iodine, and potassium nitrate, often at the expense of others' profits

American inorganic chemical producers are feeling the pinch of competition from such Chilean producers as Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM). FMC Corp. has closed its lithium chemicals plant in Argentina in response to Chilean competition. Olin Corp. closed its synthetic sodium nitrate plant in the late 1980s as a result of Chilean competition, and the list goes on.