Asia ranks as one of Bolivia's top minerals markets

Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-01 07:15:42|Editor: Shi Yinglun
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LA PAZ, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Asia has consolidated its position in recent years as one of the leading markets for Bolivian minerals ranging from copper to zinc, Bolivian Mining and Metallurgy Ministry said on Monday.

China, India, Japan and South Korea top Bolivia's list of key Asian importers, while the United States is its main buyer in the Americas, the deputy minister of metals mining development, Mario Flores, told Xinhua in an interview.

"Our most important minerals market, above all for Bolivian copper and lead, is Asia, along with the United States, though the European market continues to grow," said Flores.

In 2017, minerals were Bolivia's main export, accounting for 47.4 percent of all exports, and the sector is showing steady growth. Last year, mineral exports amounted to 3.723 billion U.S. dollars compared to 3.064 billion U.S. dollars the year before, according to official figures.

Tin, silver, gold, zinc, ulexite, copper, antimony, wolframite, baritina and sassolite (boric acid) are Bolivia's biggest mineral exports.

Some 61 percent of the South American country's mineral exports, worth more than 2.3 billion U.S. dollars, went to Asia last year, mainly zinc, gold, silver, lead, tin and copper.

Regionally, the country exported 16.7 percent of its minerals, or 595 million U.S. dollars. Europe is in third place, accounting for 14.7 percent of mineral exports, or 520 million U.S. dollars in 2017.

According to Flores, Bolivia is South America's third-biggest minerals producer, after Peru and Chile.

"The rebound in the price of minerals also helped Bolivia to raise its output and become a leading minerals exporter in the region," said Flores.

Mining is the country's fastest growing productive sector and has displaced natural gas to become its second-largest revenue generator.

Together with hydrocarbons, minerals represent 80 percent of Bolivia's total exports, according to government data.

Former mining minister Dionisio Garzon told Xinhua the sector is now generating enough revenue to evolve from focusing purely on extraction to minding the social and environmental impacts of the industry to make it sustainable.

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