Bolivia mineral export values drop nearly 30% on plunging metal prices

By Paul Ploumis (ScrapMonster Author)

March 14, 2016 04:39:22 AM

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The value of mineral exports by Bolivia dropped sharply during the month of January this year. The value of exports has dropped by nearly 29.3% to $115 million during the month. The drop in value is mainly attributed to the sharp fall in metal prices. Also, closure of smelter by Comibol-the state mining company has impacted the mineral output.

According to data released by the country’s National Statistics Institute, silver exports declined significantly by 38% year-on-year to $35.9 million during the month. The zinc concentrates exports dropped by over 19% to $61.4 million. Meantime, value of lead exports too were down by 26% to $9.2 million during Jan ’16.

The value of gold exports by the country almost halved to $1.5 million. Copper exports tumbled by nearly 68% to $2 million, while those of tungsten fell even sharply by 77% to $500,000. On the other hand, the value of tin exports surged higher by almost two-folds to $2.4 million.

Bolivia’s refined gold exports dropped considerably by 30.8% to $51.7 million. The value of refined tin exports totaled $22.6 million, down by nearly 10% over the previous year. Refined silver exports fell to almost half to $3.8 million. The temporary shutdown of lead-silver smelter by the state mining company Comibol during December last year has impacted the production and export volumes.

The country’s total exports during January this year dropped significantly by 36% to $518 million when compared with $806 million during January last year.