After giving initial approval to start producing lithium from 2021 in Argentina, Eramet has postponed the mine project citing economic and regulatory uncertainty in the debt-stricken South American country. A deterioration in the global economic outlook, has also led the French company to scale back a planned expansion of its manganese mining operation in Gabon. Eramet posted a 2019 net loss of 184 million euros, against a 53 million net profit in 2018.