Albemarle, a Chilean company involved in lithium production, initiated arbitration against Emaresa (Chile) and Cipatex (Brazil) for allegedly supplying defective materials. The tribunal applied the Chilean international arbitration law (“LACI”) because of the involvement of a foreign party, Cipatex. Cipatex successfully secured dismissal after arguing that it was not a party to the arbitration agreement between Albemarle and Emaresa. After the tribunal issued its award, Albemarle challenged it on jurisdictional grounds that the proceeding lost its “international character” because of the dismissal of Cipatex, and therefore was not subject to LACI.  Chile’s Supreme Court upheld LACI’s application, emphasizing the tribunals’ discretion, raising questions about international arbitration’s “foreign” element requirement.