State-owned Empresa Siderúrgica del Mutún (ESM) is expected to announce in the coming weeks a plan for the Bolivian steel industry, as the $405 million project aims to meet up to 60 percent of the country’s demand for steel.
According to a media report, the company expects to establish a solid basis to launch a national steel industry. EMS expects to meet about 60 percent of Bolivia’s needs for both finished and non-finished steel.
ESM is expected to partner with a Chinese company, which is yet to defined. In April this year, the Bolivian government sent an invitation to seven Chinese companies to establish a partnership for its Mutun steel project in the region of Santa Cruz. The prospective Chinese companies that could partner with Bolivia’s government in the project include Complant Mechanical, China Railway, China Aluminum International, Sinosteel Equipment, CIPMIEC–Catie Group, Capital Engineers and China CAMC.
A media report said the company expects to build a concentration plant, a pelletizing plant as well as a DRI unit, which would be all attached to a rolling mill. The rolling mill could be able to produce 150,000 mt of finished steel.
EMS said a Chinese company will finance the $405 million project. Once the plant is complete, Bolivia could save up to $230 million/year, as it won’t need to import finished steel from Brazil and Peru.