Tianqi, a Chinese manufacturing company, acquired a stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, a Chilean chemical company and a supplier of plant nutrients, iodine, lithium and industrial chemicals, from Nutrien, a Canadian fertilizer company, for $4.1bn. “A minority stake in SQM is great from our perspective, especially when we look at long term growth and expectations for the lithium industry,” said Ashley Ozols, business development manager for Tianqi, after the deal closed.