Bolivia is expected to increase production by around 11 per cent this year, as demand rises. Moreover, the commissioning of the new Sucre and Yacuses works will add to total output. Production for FY15, ending 31 March 2016, is forecast to be around 1Mt while predictions for FY16 are between 1.02-1.04Mt.

“The market has been experiencing significant growth of about six each year. As a company we have been accompanying this growth to keep our majority share mainly in the department of Santa Cruz in the south. We hope that in the coming years the business climate does not suffer major changes or modifications and we will be able to continue making investments alongside public investment and private investment in infrastructure,” said Franco Bohórquez Barrientes, CFO of Fabrica Nacional de Cemento SA (Fancesa).

Santa Cruz is Fancesa’s main market, taking around 54-58 per cent of the company’s output. A further 23 per cent is destined for Chuquisaca with Potosí, Tarija and Cochabamba in that order. The company plans to double production capacity at Sucre in a US$220m project.

Meanwhile, Yacuses is scheduled to start production in the second half of this year, adding a further 50,000 bags per day. Alexander Cappella, general manager of Itacamba Cemento SA, said the company sold 3.6Mt of bags in 2015, the same as in 2014. For 2016, he expects sales to reach 4m bags.

Nevertheless, Insumos Bolivia said it will import some  500,000 bags of IP30 and IP40 cement in 2016 to be sold in the markets of La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba. Similar volumes were imported in 2015.

"In 2016, the organisation will continue to import cement to overcome the shortfall between domestic production of this basic input for the construction and demand. Around 500,000 bags are required for this fiscal year ,” reported from Insumos Bolivia.