*The complex will produce 200,000 tons of steel per year
*The project was financed with state resources and a loan from the government of China
*Mutun iron ore deposits is one of the largest reserves of this mineral in the world
*The project was financed with state resources and a loan from the government of China
*Mutun iron ore deposits is one of the largest reserves of this mineral in the world
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00In Bolivia, the government started up a steel plant that will produce 200,000 tons of iron-derived
00:05construction materials per year and require an investment of over $500 million.
00:11Correspondent Fredy Morales with the details.
00:16The plant is located in Puerto Suarez, near the Brazilian border, and will use iron from
00:21El Cerro Mutin, one of the world's iron reserves.
00:29The truth is that it is a great satisfaction for me, today as municipal mayor of Puerto
00:33Suarez, to witness and represent those generations that have fought tirelessly for more than
00:4080 years to see this dream come true.
00:49The steel complex will produce 200,000 tons of steel per year in a first phase, which
00:54means half of these materials that the country has been importing until now.
01:04Now that we are going to put this complex into operation and we are going to start producing
01:08steel, we will generate more than 700 direct jobs and more than 2,000 indirect jobs.
01:16This is what the steel complex represents in social terms.
01:24Correspondent Luis Arce recalled that the financing of the complex used state resources
01:28and a loan from the government of China.
01:35This is an investment of $546 million where there are three actors involved to finance.
01:41First, the financing of the Chinese government, whom we thank infinitely, as well as the brother
01:46ambassador of that country, through him.
01:57A big hug to brother Xi Jinping, second the resources of the central bank with a credit,
02:02and finally, to complete all this, the general treasury of the nation that is being invested,
02:07along with resources that are here to invest and fulfill the dream of so many Bolivians.
02:19The complex will produce rebar and wire rod in its first phase.
02:27This is a clear demonstration that the Bolivian state has to be and is the fundamental actor
02:31to advance towards the industrialization of our country.
02:35Industrialization is not just a story.
02:37It is a reality.
02:44We are showing the whole country that it is possible to industrialize the country, that
02:48this depends on the political decision of a government determined to build a solid and
02:53diversified economy in our country.
03:01The mutant iron ore deposit is one of the largest reserves of this mineral, with 40,000
03:07million tons.
03:08Its production of 200,000 tons per year means that the state will save some $250 million
03:13in foreign currency that it used to spend on this import.