📋 Tender Overview
President Alberto Fernandez held meetings on Sunday with representatives of Chinese companies with investments in Argentina, with the aim of promoting the development of lithium industrialization - related to sustainable mobility - and renewable energies, within the framework of the visit to the People's Republic of China to participate in the III Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.
In the city of Shanghai, the president met with authorities from the companies Tsingshan, Power China, Gotion Argentina and CST Mining Group.
"These meetings are very important for the country, so we continue with the conversations that allow us to promote Chinese investments where we can add Argentine value and thus improve our export and production profile," said the President, accompanied by the Secretary General of the Presidency, Julio Vitobello; the president of the Central Bank, Miguel Ángel Pesce; the Argentine ambassador to China, Sabino Vaca Narvaja; the Secretary of International Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cecilia Todesca and the Argentine Consul in Shanghai, Luciano Tanto.
In the first meeting, with the company Gotion Argentina, the cooperation agreements with the Jujuy company JEMSE to develop the Cauchari-Olaroz lithiferous project in the province were analyzed.
The joint venture includes lithium extraction and refining operations at a plant to be built for this purpose in the Perico Free Trade Zone. The company is also exploring with local counterparts the possibility of expanding cooperation to areas such as batteries, energy storage systems, electric vehicles and charging stations. As a first step, it was agreed to build a standardized production line of battery packs for domestic and commercial use.
Later, the president met with the Power China group, the largest renewable energy contractor in Argentina and one of the largest construction companies in the region. To date, it has signed contracts for more than 30 projects in our country, for a total value of more than 5,500 million dollars, creating more than 200 direct jobs and more than 15,000 indirect jobs.
Later, the head of state led a meeting with directors of the CST Mining Group, to analyze the lithium battery manufacturing projects in the country and the Memorandum of Cooperation that the company is negotiating with YPF. In November 2022, the group partnered with REMSA, Salta's state-owned energy and resources company, to exploit the Salinas Grandes project.
In the evening, the president met with representatives of Tsingshan Holding Group, which is developing the Salar Centenario-Ratóns lithium project in Salta province. The company also has the chlor-alkali processing plant, located in the Perico Industrial Park in Jujuy, for which it made an investment of 120 million dollars.
Tsingshan will have an annual production capacity in the first phase of 35,000 tonnes of sodium hydroxide and 100,000 tonnes of hydrogen chloride. The initiative will generate more than 500 jobs during construction and more than 200 during operation.
The round of meetings with mining giants will continue tomorrow with executives of the company Tibet Summit Resources, with whom he will analyze the projects of the company that controls the Argentine companies Potassium and Lithium of Argentina S.A. (PLASA) and Tortuga de Oro S.A. (TOSA). Both subsidiaries are committed to investing in the development of lithium extraction projects in Salta.
Tibet Summit Resources presented plans to invest $2.200 billion in two lithium projects in Salta: $700 million for the Salar de Diablillos project and $1.500 billion for a lithium processing plant in the Salar Arizaro that will generate up to 10,000 jobs.
