Mining production in Argentina increased in August

The Mining production in Argentina increased in August as part of the government’s strategies to improve its revenues.

In this regard, Argentina’s Mining Industrial Production Index (IPI minero) grew by 7.7% in August compared to the same month in 2022.

Meanwhile, another indicator of mining production in Argentina is that the cumulative figure for January to August showed an improvement of 10.5% compared to the same period last year.

These data come from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec).

It’s worth noting that in August, the seasonally adjusted series index showed a positive variation of 0.6% compared to the previous month.

At the same time, the trend-cycle series index recorded a 0.5% increase compared to July, according to the report released by the statistical agency.

In August, the index for Crude Oil and Natural Gas Extraction and Support Services for Extraction showed an increase of 10.6% compared to the same month in 2022, while the cumulative figure for the first eight months of the year marked a 12.6% year-on-year increase.

Within the crude oil and natural gas extraction segment, the Support Services category saw the most significant growth, with a year-on-year variation of 25.5% in August and 30.9% in the year-to-date comparison.

Regarding crude oil extraction, a key component of mining production in Argentina, there was a year-on-year increase of 6.6%, with a 9.3% increase in the year-to-date comparison.

In contrast, in natural gas production, there were positive year-on-year figures of 2.0% and 0.4% for the same periods, respectively.

Mining production in Argentina: Minerals

However, the most significant contraction was observed in the index for Metallic Mineral Extraction, which showed a decrease of 21.9% compared to the same month in 2022.

This was particularly explained by the impact of Bullón dorado/doré (a semi-pure alloy of gold and silver), which fell by 60.3% year-on-year in August 2022 and contracted by 43.9% in the year-to-date comparison.

Thus, for the cumulative period from January to August 2023, the metallic minerals category experienced a decrease of 11.9% compared to the same period in the previous year.

As for the index of Non-Metallic Mineral and Quarrying Extraction, the Indec reported an increase of 8.6% compared to the same month in 2022, with a 9.0% increase in the year-to-date comparison.

This growth in the index was supported by the extraction of minerals for chemical product manufacturing, which showed a year-on-year increase of 47.7% and a 20% increase in the cumulative figure.

Within this category, the performance of Lithium Carbonate and other lithium minerals stood out with increases of 58% year-on-year and 23.6% in the cumulative comparison.

Another indicator of the growth in mining production in Argentina is the index of Coal Extraction and Agglomeration, Peat Extraction, and Mining and Quarrying, which showed an increase of 10.7% compared to the same month in 2022 and a 10% increase in the cumulative figure for January to August 2023.

Finally, the index for Ornamental Rock Extraction showed a year-on-year increase of 1.4% in August and a 3.2% increase in the cumulative comparison.

Meanwhile, the Extraction of Limestone and Gypsum saw a decrease of 27.6% year-on-year and 3.8% compared to the cumulative figure from the previous year.

Also read: One of the World’s Leading Shrimp Producers: Ecuador.