Bolivian steel and iron ore company Empresa Siderurgica del Mutun (ESM) reported that it exported 130,000 mt of iron ore in 2023, half the volume exported in 2022.
According to the company CEO Jorge Alvarado Rivas, the decline reflects logistic problems derived from high freight rates and lower availability of barges to move the ore through the Paraguay River to ports in the Atlantic Ocean.
He added that despite the sharp decline, the volume is in line with the exports before 2022, adding that 2022 was an exceptional year for iron ore exports of the project.
For 2024, Rivas mentioned that the company is already in contact with the country’s arm of Switzerland based Glencore and with the Brazilian miner J&F Mineração, in negotiations aiming at increasing the iron ore exports, adding that the volume could reach 600,000 mt in 2024.
Iron ore reserves of El Mutun are estimated at 40 billion mt, one of the largest in world terms.