Andean Group - November 2012 (ISSN 1741-4466)

Moving on lithium: This month Morales unveiled a US$40m investment plan for a pilot lithium battery manufacturing plant in the town of La Palca, Potosí. The announcement is the latest sign of government efforts to move on its pledge to develop the lithium sector using the country’s reserves. These are mostly located in the Uyuni salt plains and total some nine million tons (mt), according to the latest US Geological Survey (updated in January 2012); however, Morales has previously said these could be closer to 100mt. This follows the August inauguration of a semi-industrial potassium chloride (KCl) plant in Uyuni, which Morales hailed as the start of the lithium industrialisation process and part of the first stage of the national lithium industrialisation strategy. According to the strategy, unveiled in 2010, the second stage involves expanding the pilot plant with a further US$485m investment, researching better methods of obtaining lithium and potassium and developing technology to produce batteries. In March last, the head of the directorate of evaporative resources of Bolivia’s state mining company (Comibol), Luis Alberto Echazú, admitted that the industrialisation process had been delayed for two years.

Exports: According to the most recent report by the Bolivian institute for foreign trade (IBCE), published on 1 November, the country’s exports in the first nine months of 2012 reached US$8.3bn, up 22.25% on the same period of 2011. As previously, the main export sector was hydrocarbons, accounting for 49% of the total (up 37% on the same period of 2011). Manufacturing industry overtook mining as the second biggest export sector, accounting for 28% of the total (as compared with 18% for mining which had accounted for 28% of the total in 2011). Brazil remains Bolivia’s biggest export market (as a result of hydrocarbons sales), accounting for 32.34% of the total, followed by Argentina (10.47%) and the US (9.47%).