48.Cash and quarry(798)

Passage Forty-Eight

Cash and quarry

【1】Over five centuries Latin America and its 2bn hectares of land have been a vital source of food, fuel and metals for the world. First looted(plundered) by colonisers for gold, silver, cotton and sugar, it later supplied rubber and oil to Europe and the United States. Now Latin America faces a chance to become the 21st century’s commodity superpower. This time, it must use that chance to boost development at home.

【2】The transition(interim) to clean energy will spark decades of demand(need) for the metals needed to multiply solar and wind parks, power lines and electric cars. Latin America holds more than a fifth of the global reserves for five critical metals. It already dominates the mining of copper, pervasive(general) across green technologies, and holds nearly 60% of the world’s known resources of lithium, used in all main e-vehicle battery types.

【3】It is also rich in silver, tin and nickel. And it will benefit even if the green transition sputters, thanks to recent discoveries of oil that could see it quench 5-10% of the global demand by 2030.

【4】As the world goes greener it will also become more populous. By 2050 it may have nearly 10bn mouths to feed, up from 8bn now. That will fuel demand for the carbs, proteins and delicacies that Latin America produces aplenty.

【5】It already supplies more than 30% of the world’s corn, beef, poultry and sugar, and 60% of the world’s soyabeans. Eight out of ten cups of the world’s Arabica coffee are made from the region’s beans. By 2032 its net food exports may exceed $100bn, the largest in the world by far.

【6】The region’s draw as a trading partner will be accentuated(highlighted) by superpower rivalries. As the West scrambles to diversify away from China, it wants more deals with Latin America, a largely neutral(indifferent) and peaceful region.

【7】As monied rivals also eye its riches, a new great game is under way: just last month Vale, a Brazilian mining company, sold 13% of its green-metal arm to Saudi-owned entities for $3bn; China earmarked $1.4bn to develop lithium production in Bolivia; and Europe pledged to invest