At a time when the shortage of dollars predominates and the outlook is expected to worsen due to the drought in the countryside, the Ministry of Economy is betting on the currencies that the mining sector will add.
It is expected that, with the start-up of two new lithium projects, added to the income from the sector's exports,
some US$ 6 billion will enter this year solely for this activity
.
The number is the result of the entry of
US$ 2 billion of fresh investment
, and an increase in exports that will reach US$ 4 billion.
According to the information released by the portfolio headed by Sergio Massa,
Argentine mining exports reached their highest level in ten years in 2022
and totaled more than US$3.8 billion, in a sector that had investment announcements of more than US$ over the last two years. 11,318 million.
This amount is broken down as follows: US$4,853 million for copper operations, US$5,141 million for lithium;
US$1,293 million of gold;
and US$ 30 million of silver, while the rest is divided between potassium and other minerals.
The provinces that led the ranking of investments were
San Juan
(US$ 5,428 million) for the production of copper and gold;
Salta
(US$ 3,158 million) of lithium, copper and gold;
and
Catamarca
(US$ 2,311 million) with copper and gold.
In fourth place was
Jujuy
(US$420 million), followed by Buenos Aires (US$250 million) and Mendoza (US$1 million).
Two lithium projects
are expected to start up this year
and the respective expansions of the two projects that are currently underway (
Livent in Catamarca and Sales de Jujuy in Jujuy) will be completed.
In terms of exports, in February of this year, Argentina set a new historical record in lithium exports for this month, reaching US$ 58 million, which implied a year-on-year growth in foreign sales of 85%.
This growth, together with that of January, meant that -in the first two months of the year- mineral exports totaled
US$ 140 million, a variation of 166% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Regarding the quantities exported, in the accumulated so far this year they exhibited a rise of 31%.
In any case, although lithium is the one that grows the most, due to global demand for the electronics and automotive industry, gold and silver exports are the largest for the country.
About lithium, present in large quantities in the so-called "Lithium Triangle" in the NOA, foreign sales were US$ 696 million, with a growth of 234% year-on-year (in 2021 lithium exports were US$ 208 million) and represented 18% of total mining exports.
NE
look also
Lithium: the provinces and the Government want to keep a greater part of the income of the mining companies
Economy put an end to refunding lithium exports
