Last week, a historic state visit took place: the royal couple visited Chile, the first Belgian state visit to Latin America in 60 years. The aim of this mission: to strengthen the ties between Belgium and Chile, with a special focus on economic cooperation and space research.
King Philippe and Queen Mathilde concluded the state visit with a tour of SQM in Antofagasta, the largest lithium producer in the world. Flemish Minister of Ports Annick De Ridder, Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort, and Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prévot also took part in the visit.
During the tour, they visited, among other things, the gigantic storage warehouse that Veldeman built there: an impressive construction of 60 metres wide and 236 metres long, also the largest structure that Veldeman has ever built.
This hall stores sodium carbonate, an essential raw material for the production of lithium batteries that are used in electric cars, mobile phones and energy storage systems, among other things. Andy Moors, CEO of Veldeman Group, gave an extensive explanation of the project on site.
The visit to SQM underlined the strong presence of Flemish technology and logistics in Chile. For example, the control room of the SQM factory was equipped with technological visualization solutions from Barco. SQM’s European distribution centers are located in the port of Antwerp. And Veldeman therefore provides sustainable and safe storage infrastructure with one of the largest modular storage halls in the world.
A crowning achievement and a particularly proud moment for Veldeman!