Economy Mining exports grow thanks to gold, which increases its share at the expense of lithium - Infobae

[All the Answers]

Mining exports grow thanks to gold, which increases its share at the expense of lithium - Infobae​

Source:

Las exportaciones mineras crecen gracias al oro, que aumenta su participación a expensas del litio

Las ventas al exterior de minerales se están viendo traccionadas por el oro, como resultado de precios internacionales récord. El volumen exportado aumentó 751% interanual en agosto. En el otro extremo, las exportaciones de litio continúan en caída

www.infobae.com

September 30, 2024


The sector's foreign sales are being driven by record gold prices. Meanwhile, due to the fall in prices, lithium exports fell by 35% in the eight-month period.


The price of gold reached a historic record and exceeded USD 2,660 per ounce (Illustrative Image Infobae)

Mining exports increasingly reflect the trend in international prices. In August, the value of gold exports, which remains Argentina's main mineral export by value and by a wide margin, rose 179.2%, while lithium exports fell 38.4%.


It happens that the price of gold reached an all-time high and exceeded USD 2,660 per ounce in a context of low returns on other types of investments , depreciation of the US currency and lowering FED rates, which causes the metal to be seen as a safer option.


In this context, according to a report from the Ministry of Mining, with a 751% increase in value, USD 277 million more were exported in August than in 2023, boosting foreign sales for the period.


For example, mineral exports in August 2024 totaled USD 550 million and registered a year-on-year increase of 79.9%. Of the total exported during August, USD 484 million corresponded to metalliferous minerals, which represented a year-on-year increase of 131.4% compared to the same month in 2023 for this category.



Evolution of gold and silver exports

This type of product represented 88.1% of total mining exports for the month, with gold accounting for USD 431 million (78% of the total exported) and silver for USD 46 million (8% of the total).


In the first 8 months of the year, mineral sales totaled USD 2.736 billion, which means a year-on-year increase of 4%. In addition, the cumulative figure for 2024 is 13.7% above the average level for 2010 - 2023 in these months.

Metalliferous minerals were the largest contributors to the total, with exports of USD 2,259 million. This represents a year-on-year increase of 15.2%, with gold contributing USD 1,876 million (69% of the total exported), silver USD 339 million (12% of the total exported) and the rest of the metalliferous minerals USD 45 million (2% of the total exported).

“This allowed this sector to represent 82.6% of total mining exports. Thus, in the first 8 months of 2024, gold shows a year-on-year growth of 30.5% in the amounts exported, while silver fell by 29.9% year-on-year,” the mining ministry reported.



The global gold rush caused cumulative exports from January to August this year to exceed those of the same period in 2023 and the average for the same period from 2010 onwards
As a result, exports of the “white gold” amounted to only USD 50 million in August, which implied a year-on-year drop in amounts of 38.4%. Nevertheless, the mineral occupied the number 2 position, improving compared to the previous month. Thus, lithium accounted for 9.2% of total mining exports last month.

Thus, in the first 8 months of 2024, lithium sales abroad reached USD 374 million, decreasing by 34.8% year-on-year and representing 13.7% of total mining exports.

However, looking at the longer term, the International Energy Agency estimates that lithium demand will increase between 12 and 42 times by 2040, depending on how the energy transition evolves. This should be reflected in its price.



Metalliferous minerals accounted for 82.6% of total mining exports in the first 8 months of the year

Destinations​

Meanwhile, Switzerland, India, the United States and China accounted for 89% (USD 490 million) of total mining exports in August . In the year to date, these countries accounted for 79% (USD 2.166 billion) of sales.

Mining exports to these four countries were mainly explained by metalliferous minerals, which represented, for this group, 91% of total mining sales abroad in August and 86% in the first 8 months of the year.

In turn, these 4 destinations accounted for 82% of total metal exports in the first 8 months of 2024. The remaining 18% of exports in this category were mainly destined for Canada, Belgium, South Korea, Chile and Germany.


As for lithium, as with metalliferous minerals, exports are concentrated in a small number of destinations. China, South Korea, the United States and Japan accounted for 98% of lithium exports in August, while in the cumulative total for the first 8 months of 2024 the percentage was 95%.

It is noteworthy that China increased its share of lithium exports by 78% so far this year compared to the same period in 2023. In contrast, Japan decreased its share by 84% in the same selected period.