Bolivia is awaiting confirmation from Peru on the infrastructure to start importing diesel through the port of Ilo, beginning in October.
The Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, Benjamín Blanco, recalled that Peru committed “all its good offices to have all this infrastructure as soon as possible” in addition to “the investments that are necessary to be able to handle the fuel”.
“We are ready to make the imports since October; however, we are still working with Enapu to see the tanks, if they are going to be available and the equipment required”, said Blanco in statements to the press.
Bolivia’s decision to import 50 million liters of diesel every month through the Peruvian port of Ilo was communicated by Blanco after the meeting he held with his Peruvian counterpart Miguel Julián Palomino De la Gala and personnel from the Administration of Port Services Bolivia (ASP-B) and Empresa Nacional de Puertos (Enapu S.A.), in La Paz, on September 13.
On that occasion, Blanco said that from 2023, this operation will be carried out monthly and that Enapu has committed to undertake a set of investments to provide optimal conditions for “liquid fuels that will be coming” to Bolivia.
The Peruvian company will invest around US$60 million to expand the warehouses and conditioning of the port of Ilo, adding to the US$10 million already invested in various works at the terminal.
Bolivia currently imports diesel through the Chilean ports of Mejillones and Arica via Pisiga and Tambo Quemado, respectively, and in smaller quantities through Peru.
It also carries out these operations through the following routes: from the Paraguayan border, it goes to Villa Montes; from Argentina, the fuel takes the route through Yacuiba, Bermejo, and Villazón; and from Brazil through Puerto Quijarro, via the Tamengo channel.
The objective of boosting the Peruvian port of Ilo was born by presidents Luis Arce and Pedro Castillo in the framework of the tasks of the binational cabinet, which began operating in 2015 and continues to date.
In the last bilateral meeting, in October 2021, in La Paz, Arce and Castillo agreed on a joint work that prioritizes the missing investments to “enhance the south of Peru” and “give Bolivia a real alternative in its foreign trade”.
With information from La Voz de Tarija