Cahuil Salt Producers Lament Million-Dollar Losses Due to Production Halt

Salt producers in the Cahuil region of Chile's O'Higgins are facing severe financial hardship after a year of minimal production. Juan Luis Moraga, president of the Cooperativa Campesina de Salineros de Cahuil, Barrancas y La Villa, described the substantial losses incurred by the community.

The primary cause of the downturn was a significant freshwater flood that occurred in 2025. This event rendered the salt flats unusable, preventing the extraction of salt, a vital economic activity for the region. As a result, local families have been unable to generate their usual income.

Moraga stated that the only income currently available to families comes from the labor involved in cleaning the salt pans, a task that does not compensate for the loss of salt sales. The situation highlights the vulnerability of traditional industries to environmental factors and the economic impact on communities dependent on them.

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not achieved to extract salt from Cahuil in 2025, due to a freshwater flood in the sector, so families have not managed to have income, beyond those related to the cleaning of the salt flats.