Argentina’s growing lithium industry hits export records

Argentina’s growing lithium industry hit a record high with exports rising to US$60 million in May, up 17 percent from the same month a year ago, according to the country’s mining authority.

Lithium represented 19 percent of mining exports during May, Argentina’s Mining Secretariat said Saturday in a press release.

Argentina has become the world’s fastest-growing lithium producer. It has three active lithium mines and 38 under development. Argentina’s push into the industry comes amid a global tug of war for key EV minerals between the US and China. 

Between January and May, lithium exports rose to US$369 million, up 84 percent from last year’s same period and also a record for those five months, according to the Mining Secretariat.

By February, Argentina’s lithium industry employed 3,788 people, up 59 percent from a year before by adding 1,406 posts, the Argentina Secretariat said.