The president of the Argentine Chamber of Mining Entrepreneurs (CAEM)Franco Mignacco, stated that mining exports in the first half of the year grew by 33% compared to the same period in 2021, so The sector plans to close 2022 with foreign exchange earnings for an estimated amount of around US$ 3,800 million, with an increase of the order of 20% year-on-year.
The industry is under analysis and awaiting more details on the measures proposed by the national government through the Ministry of Economy on the scheme that can be implemented to be able to advance export levels, Magnacco explained in an interview with Télam.
“In 2022, we are in the order of exports in the first half of US $ 1,900 million33% more than in the same period of 2021, and we hope to be able to reach around US$ 3,800 million by the end of the year”, which means an estimated growth of 20%, stressed the mining leader.
Mignacco highlighted that the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, has “prioritized the sector as one of the sectors that is contributing genuine foreign currency with a clearly positive trade balance, which after agribusiness is the second sector that contributed the most dollars to the country.”
On the particularities of the sector on which work could be done for the advancement of exports or possible liquidations of production, the president of CAEM explained that “The mining industry does not have reserves or stock, what it produces is marketed by commitments and agreements of the companies.”
“In the different metals and lithium that we produce, practically everything that is produced is exported, it is a very ‘just in time’ economy, but we are very interested in talking because we need some certainty in the supply and guarantee some necessary inputs to be able to sustain this level of activity and in some cases take advantage of international prices that are favorable,” added the manager.
Regarding the global context for the metals and lithium market, Mignacco explained that in the first semester there was a clear increase in some metals, gold, silver and copper, due to the war situation, which favored prices, but now We are seeing falls and the price of lithium remains at good values”.
“That is why -he added- we must take advantage of the windows that open and close quickly, with a very volatile international economy. That is why we want to have the predictability of being able to count on all the inputs to be able to take advantage of those moments that also serve the country.”
Referring to the current development process of the mining industry, he identified “two major drivers that are driving investments: lithium and copper, both directly linked to electromobility and the energy transition for the use of clean energy.”
The country currently has two lithium projects that are in production in the provinces of Catamarca with the Fénix project, and another in Jujuy with Sales de Jujuy, while By the end of this year, production is expected to start at Olaroz-Caucharí, in Jujuy.
But in addition to those that are in productive activity, there is a set of projects that have already started the construction stage, two of them in Catamarca, another two in Salta, plus the extensions of current projects.
“There is a portfolio that became a sustained investment in exploration in the last 10 years with respect to neighboring Chile and Bolivia, which due to its restrictions due to the declaration of a strategic resource or nationalization of the resource, greatly favored Argentina to be able to have this amount today of projects, investing some 5,000 million dollars in investment over the next 3 years,” said Mignacco.
Regarding the exploitation of copper, a mineral that has not been produced in the country since the closure of La Alumbrera, the Josemaría project in the province of San Juan is the first with an announcement of progress with construction, with an investment of more than US$ 4,000 million, but also in San Juan with Los Azules and Pachón, in Catamarca the Mara project and in Salta, Taca Taca.
“They all have a very important impact on the investment of 3,000 to 4,000 million dollars, with the development of local suppliers and employment, and with these projects in Argentina in the next ten years, added to lithium and the expansions in gold and silver, we can talk about more than 20,000 million dollars in direct investment in mining in the country”, explained the president of CAEM.
In this perspective, he highlighted that “Argentina has the capacity to triple its current export and reach 10,000 to 12,000 million dollars, only with the lithium projects that are going to be launched. and one or two copper projects to come online in the next few years.”
When asked about the conditions that can be considered favorable for the industry, Mignacco said that “we intend that the Mining Investment Law 24,196 be respected in all its terms. It was passed in the 1990s and has a very good impact on the activity, but that throughout different governments due to conjunctural and macroeconomic issues, it has not been respected at all points”.
Mining companies are also waiting to discuss with the Government new measures of “free access to the single market free of exchange, especially to be able to have the necessary imports and inputs,” among other tax issues.
