BUENOS AIRES, April 18 (Reuters) - Argentina exported $233 million in lithium in the year's first three months, a 133% increase from the same period last year, the country's mining secretary said in a report Tuesday.
Exports of the white metal reached a monthly best in March, with sales jumping 93% from March 2022 to reach $91 million. Lithium represented 27% of all of Argentina's mining exports last month.
The top destinations for Argentine lithium in the first quarter were China (31%) and Japan (31%), followed by the U.S. (13%) and South Korea (12%).
Argentina's mining secretary reports 38 operating lithium projects, but the only ones currently producing are the Salar de Olaroz mine in the Jujuy province, whose majority shareholder is Australia's Allkem Ltd, and Catamarca province's Fenix mine, a property of the American Livent Corporation.
Agriculture powerhouse Argentina has been offering tax breaks and security guarantees to lure global mining firms to invest in lithium, the coveted metal used in batteries that power both electric vehicles and small electronics.
In addition to Allkem Ltd. (AKE) and Livent LTHM.N , international companies mining lithium in Argentina include China's Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. 002460.SZ , the Netherlands' Pluspetrol Resources, France's Eramet, Canada's Lithium Americas, and the Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto Group.
Argentina, the world's fourth largest lithium producer, forms part of the so-called "lithium triangle," the largest global reserve of the mineral, along with Bolivia and Chile.
