Chile lithium exports reach $684 million

The growing market for electric vehicles has seen lithium exports in Chile soar.

Lithium exports from Chile increased by 47% last year, hitting $684.3 million in value. This makes lithium the fourth largest mining export, behind copper, molybdenum and iron ore.

A report released from the Chilean Copper Commission has shown that exports of lithium have rocketed from the $465 million figure in 2016.

Copper is still the largest export from Chile, accounting for more than 89% of the country’s entire export. Copper exports were valued at $33.9 billion, with Molybdenum in second place at $1.2 billion and iron ore in third at just over $1 billion.

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The news also comes after it was revealed that overall copper production in Chile increased to 494,500 tonnes in May this year,

The increase represents a 13.5% increase on last year, with 2.36 million tonnes being produced between January and May.