MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine mining industry volume exports significantly lower

“In the first eleven months of 2022 total mining industry exports reached US$ 4bn, representing a 24,3% increase over the previous year”, points out the IES report

Mining industry exports from Argentina last year increased in value but suffered a drop in volume as a consequence of the high international prices, a report from the Economic Sectors Research, IES, indicates.

“In the first eleven months of 2022 total mining industry exports reached US$ 4bn, representing a 24,3% increase over the previous year”, points out the IES report which also indicates that volumes exported last year were the lowest in the last quarter of a century (only higher than in 1997).

This is because of a strong drop in aluminum shipments during 2022 and the disappearance of copper exports, following the end of the La Alumbrera deposit profitable extraction, the mineral which until 2014 was the leading export when it came to quantities“

Further on the report indicates that ”since the high prices for minerals reached in 2011 (a record so far), international prices of metals started to slide down until 2016 included, and to experience a slight rebound between 2011 and 2021“. Since then the value of minerals has managed a global stabilization.

”The metals prices index overall dropped 1,3% in 2022 but remained elevated at historic levels, with a heterogeneous performance for the main minerals and annual records for gold and aluminum“, added IES.

On the other hand, as to the price of gold and silver, with the slowing of inflation in the US and the lesser strengthening of monetary policy from the Federal Reserve, this helped revert in December the lower prices for the precious metals occurred in July and October”

Finally the increase in carbon lithium prices is the direct result from an increase in Chinese demand for the manufacture of electric vehicles.