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en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 7, Luis Lucero, Argentina's National Secretary of Mining, stated at the 15th South American Lithium International Symposium held in Jujuy Province that Argentina's installed lithium production capacity is expected to increase from 275,000 tonnes per year in 2026 to 550,000 tonnes per year in 2030, and further to 680,000 tonnes per year in 2035, all measured in lithium carbonate equivalent. The Argentine government has designated Jujuy, Salta, and Catamarca provinces as the primary lithium industry development regions, and the three provinces are expected to form the world's third-largest lithium production hub.

According to production capacity data published by Argentina's National Mining Secretariat, the country's annual lithium production capacity grew from 80,000 tonnes in 2023 to 175,000 tonnes in 2024, reaching 215,000 tonnes in 2025. Based on the 2026 forecast, an additional 60,000 tonnes of capacity will be added for the full year, an increase of approximately 28%. This round of new capacity involves two lithium projects, Sal de Vida and Hombre Muerto Oeste, as well as two expansion projects, Fénix 1B and Sal de Oro II, with some facilities scheduled to be commissioned or to expand production scale within the year.

In terms of export data, Argentina's lithium product export value grew from US$645 million in 2024 to US$915 million in 2025, and reached a cumulative US$1.467 billion from January to August 2026. The National Mining Secretariat estimates that lithium export value is expected to reach US$9.973 billion by 2031. This forecast represents a future annual export scale target and is calculated separately from the current designed capacity of processing facilities and the product output already achieved.

During the conference, Lucero identified long-term policy stability, corporate investment, and cooperation with provincial governments as the primary conditions for advancing capacity expansion. The three provinces of Jujuy, Salta, and Catamarca will continue to cooperate through the regional lithium industry coordination mechanism, and Argentina's Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI) has also been included in the current policy arrangements for attracting mining investment.