Mining is one of only three industries that generate net foreign currency for the country. However, barriers to imports are already affecting their projects, both those in production and those under construction, according to a note from the Argentine Chamber of Mining Entrepreneurs (CAEM).
“We want to make ours public concern about the continuous delays in the approval processes of the Import System of the Argentine Republic (SIRA) and the System of Imports of the Argentine Republic and Payment of Services Abroad (SIRASE), and the lack of prospects for a solution “, CAEM stressed.
“This situation already damages the production of mining projects. It is essential for our sector to know that we will be able to access the inputs to produce and continue with the construction of expansions and new projects”, continued the businessmen grouped in the entity.
According to the companies, “the problem has dragged on since the beginning of the year and despite the recent changes implemented, jeopardizes the pace of production, with the possibility of it coming to a complete halt. This delays the expansion of deposits and the construction of new businesses e stops the arrival of foreign currency. It also damages the entire supply chain, made up mainly of SMEs, which are the ones that give impetus to regional economies “.
The Chamber also highlighted that all this is deepened by a context of drop in metal prices (considering that 80% of national exports correspond to gold and silver) and due to an increase in production costs, which in the last year stood at around 30% in dollars.
According to the entity, “the mining industry is an industry with a purely export trade balance and era one of the only three sectors that in 2021 produced net income in foreign currency for the country. Hence the importance of continuing to produce and grow. Add to this that it generates more than 90,000 jobs and contributes US $ 107,000 million annually to the state, “he said in the statement.
In the industry they explain that US $ 3,800 million is expected to export this year and over the next 10 years this figure could triple, with annual exports of US $ 12,000 million and investments of over US $ 20,000 million if international conditions are generated and the appropriate national context “. This includes, in the first place, the possibility of regularizing imports “, stands out.
mining is one of the many sectors affected by this in production due to the restrictions imposed by the government on the import of inputs, in an attempt to stop the outflow of dollars from the coffers of the Central Bank.
Another sector affected is the oil companies making plans to drill wells at Vaca Muerta, despite this work being a priority for officials to increase gas supply for the coming winter. Problems also reach the shipping companies transporting fuel for oil companies, to car companies, which have to stop the production of units and the food and wood industries, among many others.
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Source: Clarin
