China's Ganfeng Lithium starts Mariana project in Salta, expands Argentine operations

Ganfeng Lithium, China's top lithium producer, commenced operations at a lithium mine in Argentina, signaling the country's industry is actively working to secure supplies for its extensive domestic market.

Ganfeng said Feb. 14 that it has officially put the first phase of its Mariana project in Salta, Argentina, into operation, making Argentina one of its important overseas production bases.

China itself does not hold major lithium resources and ranks as the world's ninth-largest country with lithium reserves and resources, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. However, China is among the top lithium suppliers, ranked third after Australia and Chile.

In addition to scaling up existing projects and launching new ones, China is anticipated to see a further rise in its imports of lithium carbonate from Argentina in 2025, industry sources said.

China's lithium carbonate imports from Argentina rose 154.8% year over year to 46,509 mt in 2024, customs data showed.

Ganfeng's tryst with Argentina

The first phase of the Mariana project has a designed capacity of 20,000 mt of lithium chloride. Following Cauchari-Olaroz project, Ganfeng Lithium commenced this second project in Argentina.

Ganfeng Lithium brought the first phase of Cauchari-Olaroz project into operation in the second half of 2023, the company's annual report showed. The company is ramping up the production capacity of the project, which has a capacity of 40,000 mt of battery-grade lithium carbonate.

The company controls Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes project, which has a planned lithium chemicals capacity of 20,000-30,000 mt/year for the first phase and 50,000 mt/year in the long term.

Cauchari-Olaroz, Mariana and Pozuelos-Pastos projects have total lithium resources of 24.58 million mt, 8.12 million mt and 11.06 million mt lithium carbonate equivalent, respectively, according to the company's interim report.

In addition, Ganfeng Lithium also invested in the Incahuasi and Sal de la Puna projects in Argentina, which are in the exploration phase.

Ganfeng said it is looking to optimize its supply chain and costs for producing lithium to boost its competitiveness in the global markets.

A consistent supply of upstream ore resources is crucial, driven by the expected increase in demand for battery metals due to the growth of electric vehicles and energy storage solutions.

Ganfeng Lithium has been exploring various upstream resources, including hard rock lithium ore, brine, lithium clay, and recycled materials, despite a downward trend in global lithium prices.

Ganfeng Lithium is aiming to achieve a minimum LCE production target of 600,000 mt/year by 2030, in a bid to meet anticipated growth in downstream demand.

Lithium chemicals prices

Amid several lithium project starts, Chinese lithium chemicals prices moved into a downward trajectory in 2024, as supply continued to increase while demand growth slowed down.

Prices are likely to remain low in 2025 due to an increase in supply, which will exacerbate the existing surplus, according to sources.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide at Yuan 76,300/mt ($10,468/mt) and Yuan 69,000/mt Feb. 13 on a delivered, duty-paid China basis, respectively, down 20.5% and 19.8%, from a year earlier.