Bolivia expects to cease cement imports in 2017

In 2017, Bolivia will no longer require cement imports following the launch of production at the Ecebol plant, according to Patricia Ballivian, general manager of the Productive Public Enterprises Development Service (Sedemp).

"We will stop importing cement with our plant and will capture more than 20 per cent of the market. We expect plant construction to take three years, ie we will be starting operations in 2017 to cover the market,” said the official.

She said the country currently imports about 180,000tpa of cement, a volume that will be amply covered by Ecebol’s 300,000t production.

José Luis Jiménez, Ecebol’s technical manager, said the plant, which will be located in Orura, will require 12Mft3 of gas per day.

"The place of implementation of the cement plant is within 8km of the pipeline from the highlands which is going to supply gas to the cement plant, which will be about 12Mft3 per day," he said.

He added that prices will be the most competitive in the market and is expected to generate an annual net income of US$30m. 

Ecebol recently opened the tenders for the design, equipment supply, construction and commissioning of the greenfield plant to be situated in Oruro.