Bolivia inaugurates steel plant built with Chinese loan

Puerto Suarez, Bolivia (AFP) Feb 25, 2025

Short on foreign currency, Bolivia inaugurated a steel plant Monday that it hopes will reduce its reliance on metal imports, thanks to a loan from China. The Mutun megaproject in Puerto Suarez, near Bolivia's border with Brazil, was built at a cost of $546 million, financed in large part by the Export-Import Bank of China - expanding its economic and political footprint in South America.