Bolivia plans to sell tin from a plant seized two months ago from Swiss commodity trader Glencore International AG. The country is offering a prospectus for the sale, Katherine Alvarez, a spokeswoman for state miner Comibol, told Bloomberg News in a telephone interview yesterday from La Paz.
The Vinto auction will take place on April 23, according to an invitation issued to the sale issued by La Empresa Metalurgica Vinto, the company operating the smelter. The volume offered was not disclosed, but trade sources suggest that it will be in the order of 1,500 tonnes. The plant produced 966 tonnes in March.
Bolivia’s new mining minister Alberto Echazu confirmed last week that the country has been unable to export most of the tin produced by the Vinto smelter since it was nationalised in February as a result of legal considerations. These were related to a court order obtained by Glencore and conciliation negotiations begun via the Swiss embassy in Bolivia.
