LitioMx to Be Part of the Budget in 2024

The Ministry of Energy (SENER) asked the Ministry of Finance (SHCP) for resources for the state-owned lithium company LitioMx for 2024. This will be the first time the company obtains its own budget since its creation. Yet, the resources allocated will not be enough for the company to develop, agree experts. 

According to the 2024 Federal Expenditure Budget Project (PPEF), the federal government plans to allocate a budget ofMX$9.7 million (US$563,000), so LitioMx can strategically plan, standardize and execute programs, projects and initiatives aimed at the exploration, exploitation and use of lithium. Active participation from the public, private and social sectors is expected for the development of this company. Furthermore, LitioMx will oversee and manage economic value chains to effectively harness the wealth generated from lithium. 

On Aug. 23, 2022, the federal government published the decree for the creation of LitioMX, a public decentralized organism that will lead the exploration, exploitation and harnessing of lithium, the decree reads. In that year, LitioMx was allocated over MX$36.8 million (US$2.1 million) via SGM, which is part of the Ministry of Economy (SE). “The expenditures that may arise in 2022 due to the enforcement of this decree will be covered through offsetting transactions, in accordance with the applicable legal provisions, using the approved budget for SENER for the fiscal year 2022. Therefore, no budget extensions will be authorized for this purpose,” reads the decree’s transitory Art. 6, adding that for subsequent years, the corresponding expenditures will be covered from resource allocations approved by the Chamber of Deputies for SENER or for LitioMX in the Federal Budget. 

On Sep. 01, 2023, MBN reported experts’ concerns regarding the budgetary structure of LitioMx, as it is subject to SENER’s resources without a specific allocation, arguing that this structure compromises the company’s ability to extract lithium. Furthermore, Expansión noted that the yet-to-be-approved budget is only a fourth part of the resources allocated for lithium exploration this year. "Based on what is known up to this point, considering the budget and other factors, it appears that the results (in terms of lithium exploitation) by the end of the six-year term will continue to be extremely limited," Armando Alatorre, Geologist, CIMMGM told Expansión. 

While LitioMx expects resources for the coming year, companies and industry experts believe Mexico is far from starting commercial lithium production. In this sense, some experts believe that Mexico should start working on becoming a marketer, rather than a producer, while technology evolves, as suggested by Andrés Robles, Vice President of Government and Institutional Relations, AIMMGM.