Chinese Funding Supports Mutún Steel Complex Launch in Bolivia
February 18, 2025
The Mutún Steel Complex, scheduled to be inaugurated on February 24 near the Brazilian border, marks a key step in Bolivia's industrialization, a long-cherished vision for the country over the past half century. Now this dream has finally come true with the support of China. The Mutún Steel Complex consists of seven sub-projects: ore dressing, pelletizing, direct reduced iron (DRI), steelmaking, rolling, electricity and utilities, of which the first five are core production links. The project, led by China's Sinosteel Engineering and Technology, will produce 200,000 tons of steel per year, including key products such as rebar and wire mesh, and is expected to contribute $260 million to the Bolivian economy. Mutún Steel will process 66,000 tons of raw materials (iron ore) per month, which comes from the El Cerro Mutún mine. According to the estimated research on the potential reserves of Muton, its iron ore reserves are as high as 40 billion tons, which is the largest iron ore deposit in the world. The core mining area of the Simandou iron ore project, which will be put into production at the end of this year, covers an area of 738 square kilometers. It is a world-class large-scale high-quality open-pit hematite mine, and the reserves of the north and south blocks are only 4 billion tons. It is reported that the grade of processed iron ore in the Muton iron ore mine is between 62% and 65%, and the main products are fine powder and lump ore, with a monthly production capacity of 80,000 to 100,000 tons. Bolivian media commented that under the leadership of President Luis Arce, Bolivia is working hard to revitalize the economy, and the commissioning of the steel project is the key to overcoming challenges such as the decline in the country's natural gas exports.
Read More