SANTIAGO, Aug 21 Reuters Chile39;s SQM, the world39;s secondlargest lithium producer, reported a biggerthanexpected 63.2 slide in its quarterly profit on Wednesday due to weak prices of the battery metal, which it expects will continue for the rest of the year.

The miner, which also produces fertilizers and industrial chemicals, posted a secondquarter net profit of 213.6 million, or 75 cents a share, missing analysts estimates of 296.7 million, or 95 cents a share, according to LSEG data.

Its revenue of 1.3 billion in the quarter was in line with analysts39;s expectations, based on LSEG data.

SQM produces the white metal in the Atacama salt flat of northern Chile, home to the world39;s highest lithium concentration in brine, giving it an advantage of lowcost production.

But, while it posted recordhigh quarterly sales volumes of lithium, its results were dragged down by a significant drop in the metal39;s prices and CEO Ricardo Ramos said that trend will continue.

We see this pricing trend continuing in the second half of this year, with current lithium price indices in China nearly 20 lower than the average lithium price indices in the second quarter of 2024.

A basket of lithium prices tracked by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence shows they have fallen about 70 over the past year because of weakerthanexpected global demand for electric vehicles due, in part, to high borrowing costs and global uncertainty.

Ramos said some lithium producers may reduce their output…