Lithium in Argentina: Concentration, Manipulation, and the Alternative of Tokenization

By Pablo Rutigliano, President and Founder of the Latin American Chamber of Lithium and CEO & Founder of Atómico 3 S.A.

1. The Argentine lithium export map

As of August 31, 2025, the picture of the lithium carbonate export market in Argentina is mathematically clear:

• Minería EXAR Sociedad Anónima: 22,733 tons exported, with a declared FOB value of USD 174 million, accounting for 33.6%.

• Sales de Jujuy S.A.: 23,902 tons, USD 170 million, with an incidence of 33.06%.

• Minera del Altiplano S.A.: 15,829 tons, USD 162 million, with an incidence of 31.45%.

• Eramine Sudamericana S.A.: 1,200 tons, USD 8.85 million, with an incidence of just 1.71%.

This ranking reveals an oligopolistic concentration: three companies control more than 98% of Argentina's lithium carbonate exports.

2. Month-to-month variations in 2025

Export data between January and August 2025 reflects irregular performance, with no consolidation of the production capacity announced in forums and the media:

• January: 9,711 tons - USD 82 million

• February: 7,014 tons – USD 61 million

• Marzo: 6.801 tn– USD 58 M

• Abril: 9.368 tn– USD 77 M

• Mayo: 5.761 tn – USD 45,56 M

• Junio: 6.895 tn– USD 51 M

• Julio: 9,564 tons – USD 69 million

• August: 8,626 tons – USD 70 million

Far from growing steadily, production showed sharp declines (March, May), confirming that the projections were unfulfilled promises.

3. Export destinations: Chinese hegemony

The geographic distribution of Argentine lithium exports leaves no room for doubt:

• China: 50,116 tons, 77.6% of total exports.

• United States: 5,596 tons (11%).

• South Korea: 4,466 t (5.45%).

• Japan: 2,236 tons (3.67%).

• Other destinations (Indonesia, Spain, Netherlands, France, Mexico, India, United Kingdom, Australia): less than 1% each.

Structural dependence on China places Argentina in a situation of extreme asymmetry: it is the buyer who sets the price, quality, and payment terms.

4. International prices and local under-invoicing

In January 2025, the international price of lithium carbonate ranged between USD 12,000 and 14,000/t. Today, it stands at around USD 10,000/t, following a 20–30% drop.

However, the most serious issue is that Argentine companies declared FOB values up to 30% below that international benchmark. This means that the country loses foreign currency through under-invoicing, as reported by the Latin American Lithium Chamber in 2023 (Criminal Case 3309/23).

5. A groundbreaking complaint in Latin America

In 2020, when I proposed the creation of the Metals Market, I presented a transparent and digitized pricing model for mining commodities. That proposal was attacked by the mining caste and dismissed by official bodies.

Three years later, in 2023, the Latin American Chamber of Lithium, which I chair, formally denounced the systematic under-invoicing of lithium exports in Argentina. It was the first institutional precedent on the continent to point out, with concrete data, that China was manipulating international prices and that local companies were acting as cogs in that mechanism.

6. Subsequent international confirmations

The complaints we filed were later echoed by global voices:

• In April 2023, specialist Joe Lowry ("Mr. Lithium") stated that "China has attempted to create a false narrative to lower the price of lithium."

• In October 2024, US official José Fernández, Assistant Secretary of State, stated that "China is producing much more lithium than the world needs, with the aim of eliminating rivals. They lower the price until the competition disappears."

In other words, what we denounced in 2023 from Latin America was confirmed in 2023 and 2024 by world-renowned experts and officials.

7. Expectations, markets, and complicity of agencies

In this context, it is important to highlight the role of stock exchanges and the National Securities Commission (CNV).

For years, news about supposed "megatrends," "multimillion-dollar investments," and "exponential growth" in Argentine lithium circulated in international media and forums. Each of these publications had a direct impact on capital markets: by inflating expectations, they increased companies' stock prices and valuations, even though these projections never materialized in reality.

Far from demanding transparency, the CNV merely reproduced these statements, while journalists working for the mining cartel attacked and defamed Atómico 3, spreading fake news that diverted attention from the real issue: underbilling and price manipulation.

How many inaccurate production and export estimates were published as absolute truths? How many exaggerated news stories served to manipulate capital and expectations in international markets? That is the real responsibility shared by companies, organizations, and the media.

8. The tokenization alternative: a transparent model

Faced with this scenario of concentration, manipulation, and opacity, the tokenization of mining assets emerges as a concrete alternative for transforming the Argentine economy.

If exports, price formation, and financing of mining projects were carried out through a model of embryonic transparency, digital traceability, and open participation, as proposed by Atómico 3, the following would be eliminated at the root:

• Cartelization.

• Monopolies.

• Price manipulation.

• The exclusion of SMEs and citizens from mining profits.

Tokenization would allow local SMEs to access direct financing, make contracts public and auditable on the blockchain, and enable every Argentine to participate in the benefits of natural resources.

The impact would be enormous: if mining were tokenized under a transparent model, its contribution to the national economy could increase five or six times what the Argentine countryside represents today.

We are talking about a revolution in price formation, transparency, and profit redistribution, capable of turning Argentina into a global leader in strategic resources, but under clean and sovereign rules.

9. What must be clear

The most important thing to remember is the following:

• In 2023, the Latin American Lithium Chamber denounced Chinese under-invoicing and price manipulation before any other international actor.

• Inflated projections and fake news served to manipulate markets and expectations, with the complicity of agencies and the media.

• Atomic 3 was attacked and defamed because it poses a direct threat to cartelization: the proposal for transparent tokenization.

• With tokenization, Argentina could increase the sector's economic contribution five- or sixfold, democratizing the benefits and ensuring sovereignty over its resources.

Pablo RutiglianoPresident and Founder – Latin American Lithium ChamberCEO & Founder – Atómico 3 S.A.