The US mining company Livent announced an investment of US $ 640 million for the start-up of its expansion works in the Fénix Project, which will allow it to increase lithium production in the Salar del Hombre Muerto de Antofagasta de la Sierra, in the Catamarca province. The company reported that it is a second lithium carbonate production plant that will have a construction process of almost three years, with a first stage to be completed in early 2023 and the second in the first four months of 2024. In Argentina, Livent has been in business for more than 25 years. At the end of March, BMW announced the signing of a contract with Livent for US $ 334 million, whereby Argentina will become its second lithium supplier from 2022 to supply the growing production of its electric vehicles, behind Australia. The growing production of lithium in the country will support the vision promoted by the national government to turn Argentina into a "technological producer for South America and other regions", based on the local industrialization of the lithium chain.