Bloomberg News reported on June 28 that four new lithium projects in Argentina will start production in the coming weeks and months, which will nearly double Argentina's lithium production capacity. Once the four new lithium projects in Argentina are fully operational, their annual production capacity will increase by 79% to 202,000 metric tons.

These projects are built on salt flats in the so-called Lithium Triangle of the Andes in South America.

According to a spokesperson from Argentina's Ministry of Mining, the first of the four new projects will be Centenario Ratones by French company Eramet SA and Tsingshan Holding Group Co., Ltd., which plans to hold a completion ceremony next week. Other lithium projects include the Sal de Oro lithium project by South Korea's Posco Holdings Inc., the Tres Quebradas lithium project by Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd., and the Mariana lithium project by Ganfeng Lithium. According to Bloomberg's statistics, this is expected to increase global lithium production to 1.4 million tons this year.

In addition, Santiago Cicchetti, Rio Tinto's Argentina External Affairs Manager, also said last week at a meeting in Buenos Aires that Rio Tinto Group also plans to start a factory with an initial capacity of 3,000 tons at its Salar del Rincon project before the end of this year.

The conference held in Buenos Aires on June 26-27 attracted many top lithium producers, exploration companies, and technology providers. Bloomberg said that it also includes an industrial investment tax, currency, and customs preferential program beneficial to lithium developers.

So far, Argentina's lithium industry has been mainly concentrated in the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, and Catamarca. However, Walter Gomez, President of mining company Emse, said in an interview that La Rioja, located in the south, is now also trying to attract miners for exploration.

But according to domestic media reports, industry insiders generally believe that it will take some time for Argentina's lithium mining capacity to reach production, with many uncertainties during the period, so the impact on the current lithium prices is limited.