During May, the latest reporting period by the Secretariat of Mining, 16 mining projects in production achieved exports worth US$372 million. This value represents a year-over-year growth of 24.5% and accounts for 97.1% of the total mining exports made during the month.
By Panorama Minero
According to estimates from the national mining department, three products represented 98.8% of the exports in May for these projects. In first place is gold, with 81.9% (US$305 million), followed by silver, with 9.1% (US$34 million), and lithium, with 7.9% (US$29 million).
As for imports, in May 2024, imports were recorded by 24 mining projects totaling US$86 million, representing a 20.4% increase compared to May 2023.
66% of these imports (US$56.5 million) came from purchases abroad by six projects in the construction phase, consisting of one copper and five lithium projects. Secondly, 14 production projects accounted for 30.6% (US$26.2 million) of the total, including three lithium, eight gold, and three silver projects. The remaining 3.4% (US$2.9 million) corresponded to four projects: two in feasibility, one in advanced exploration, and one in the prospecting stage.
In terms of minerals, 65.5% of the imports (US$56.1 million) were made by ten lithium projects. 17.5% (US$15 million) corresponded to two copper projects, 14.2% (US$12.2 million) to eight gold projects, and the remaining 2.8% (US$2.4 million) to four projects, three silver and one uranium.
Regarding the types of use of the imports, 49.3%, or US$42.3 million, corresponded to capital goods, 38.3%, or US$32.9 million, to intermediate goods, 9.4% (USD 8.1 million) to parts and accessories for capital goods, and the remaining 2.9%, amounting to US$2.5 million, to fuels and consumer goods.
Import/Export Ratio
The ratio between imports and exports of mining projects was 23% in May 2024, compared to 23.8% in the same month in 2023. In the annual accumulation, the ratio was 32%, compared to 19.3% in the same period of the previous year. This means that for every hundred dollars exported, mining projects imported approximately thirty-two dollars.
When broken down by mineral, for metalliferous projects (zinc, copper, gold, silver, and uranium), the ratio was 8.6% in May, while in the first five months of the year, it reached 11.5%. On the other hand, lithium projects, considering both production and expansion projects and those under construction and in other stages, showed a ratio of 189.4% in May 2024 and 145.6% in the first five months.
The difference between the ratios of these two classes of minerals is explained by the heterogeneity in lithium projects. In May, the production projects were carrying out expansion tasks, and there were five projects under construction, which generated a higher demand for purchases abroad.
