Bolivia in October exported its first urea on record since June 2020, according to the latest Trade Data Monitor (TDM) statistics. The tons were shipped to Brazil.
The country’s only ammonia and urea plant – the Bulo facility in Bolivia’s central Cochabamba province – restarted production on Sept. 6 this year after an almost 22-month production hiatus (GM Sept. 10, p. 29).
The plant’s operator, state-run oil and gas company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB), at the time said the company was targeting the sale of up 150,000 mt of urea from Bulo Bulo during the remainder of 2021. Of that volume, around 125,000 mt was targeted for export sale, while the balance would go to the domestic market.
The Bulo Bulo plant has a nameplate capacity of 2,100 mt/d of granular urea. At the time of the production re-start, YPFB said the facility was working at a 70 percent utilization.
Bolivia exported 305,040 mt of urea in 2019 and 21,769 mt in 2020, according to TDM statistics. The 2020 export volumes were understood to have come from inventory.
In addition to Brazil, Bulo Bulo urea previously has been exported to four other countries, including Argentina, Paraguay, and Peru,
The plant began operations in September 2017, but has suffered a series of operational problems since start-up.
The most recent production stoppage – arguably the most serious and far-reaching – began in November 2019 (GM Jan. 31, 2020). According to comments in March 2021 by YPFB Executive President Wilson Zelaya, the shutdown of operations at the plant was not done according to proper procedures and resulted in some damage to equipment.