Context: How Bolsa Boliviana de Valores works, and what it makes issuers disclose · Bolivia on the LatAm Power Map
Bolivia’s biggest soybean crusher sits on a river at the Brazilian border, ships crude oil and meal to three continents, and carries one of the most politically charged ownership stories in South American agribusiness. For investors, the question is whether 2024’s handsome profit numbers reflect the real business — or a one-time currency windfall.
| Full name | Gravetal Bolivia S.A. |
|---|---|
| Ticker / exchange | GRB — Bolsa Boliviana de Valores (BBV); debt instruments only (bonds & commercial paper); equity not publicly traded |
| Headquarters | Calle René Moreno N°258, Edificio BNB Piso 6, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia |
| Sector | Agroindustria — soybean crushing; crude oil and soy-meal export |
| Employees | 51–200 (2025 estimate, EMIS) |
| Market value (equity) | Not published: Gravetal’s shares are not listed for trading; the company raises capital through bonds and commercial paper. No market capitalisation exists. |
| Paid-in capital | Bs 951 million ≈ USD 96.5 million (ASFI, 2025) |
| Yearly revenue | Not published in detail: PCR rating report (Dec 2024) confirms revenues were lower year-on-year due to drought; Gravetal has reported cumulative decade-long exports exceeding USD 1.8 billion (ANF, 2020). Recent annual export revenues estimated at ~USD 150 million (company memorial). |
| Net profit (FY Dec 2024, preliminary) | Bs 148.7 million ≈ USD 15.1 million (Cabildeo Digital, citing company data; includes a non-operational FX gain of ~Bs 390 million) |
| Net margin | 16.98% (PCR DuPont analysis, Dec 2024) |
| Return on equity (ROE) | 13.51% (PCR, Dec 2024; up from 6.26% in Dec 2023) |
| Return on assets (ROA) | 7.42% (PCR, Dec 2024; up from 3.54% in Dec 2023) |
| Price-to-earnings | N/A — no publicly traded equity |
| Dividend yield | N/A — profits have been reinvested, not distributed as dividends, per shareholder resolutions (BBV filings) |
| Credit rating | B1 / N-1 (PCR / ASFI), outlook Stable — highest short-term grade in Bolivia |
| Website | gravetal.com.bo |
What it is
Gravetal Bolivia S.A. is an agro-industrial company that holds Bolivia’s largest installed soybean crushing capacity, with state-of-the-art technology, its own river-port facilities, and a large-volume storage complex for solid and liquid products — all of which secure its production process and export dispatch.
Founded in 1993 and operational from 1994, the company was built in the Puerto Quijarro zone on the Bolivia-Brazil border, strategically positioned on the Arroyo Concepción waterway that connects through the Canal Tamengo to the Paraguay-Paraná waterway and hence to the Atlantic Ocean.
Gravetal operates three bulk-cargo river wharves — Tamengo I, II, and III — for its own grain handling. Its two main export products are crude degummed soybean oil and soybean meal, sold to food producers in South America, Europe, and Asia.
The business is inherently exposed to swings in global soybean commodity prices, which it partly manages by placing futures and options contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Who owns it
In March 2024, the holding vehicle Inversoja S.A. — which had controlled 99% of Gravetal since 2008 — was dissolved and liquidated; its 298,262 Gravetal shares were transferred directly to the individual shareholders. The company’s ownership is now held directly by natural persons.
The principal shareholder is Juan Valdivia Almanza, who holds approximately 35% of the capital, alongside Katarina Gumucio Stambuk, who holds approximately 22%. Gravetal’s total paid-in capital reached Bs 951 million (≈ USD 96.5 million) in 2025, according to ASFI reports.
With this structure, Gravetal has become central to a complex financial scheme involving sizeable bank loans, exchange-listed debt issuances, and closed-end investment funds — all reported to the BBV and to financial regulators. The ownership history is subject to ongoing journalistic scrutiny and legal proceedings in Bolivia.
Who runs it
Juan Carlos Munguía Santiesteban serves as acting General Manager (*Gerente General a.i.*); he holds a degree in Business Administration from the Universidad Católica Boliviana. He joined Gravetal in February 2015 as Administrative-Financial Manager and has held the acting General Manager post since October 2018.
Not published: The BBV company ficha (data to 28 February 2026) lists the acting General Manager and acting Finance Manager titles but withholds the current named executives, displaying only role labels. The most recently named Finance Manager in primary ASFI/BBV filings is Mariano Teruggi Tonelli (a.i.), per PCR rating reports through 2021; whether this assignment remains current cannot be confirmed from publicly available primary sources as of the writing date.
The money, in plain words
For every boliviano of assets, Gravetal earned about 7.4 cents of profit in 2024 — a return on assets (ROA) of 7.42%; for every boliviano of owners’ capital, it earned about 13.5 cents — a return on equity (ROE) of 13.51%. Both numbers more than doubled from the previous year.
The improvement, however, deserves a closer look. Both indicators rose largely because of currency-exchange gains generated by export revenues, not from stronger core trading; the net margin of 16.98% and financial leverage of 1.82 times are the main drivers of the ROE in the DuPont breakdown.
Independent analysts note that the reported 2024 net profit of Bs 148.7 million (≈ USD 15.1 million) includes a non-operational accounting adjustment of roughly Bs 390 million — which, stripped out, would reveal a core operating loss of approximately Bs 241 million. The operating pressure traces directly to drought reducing available soybean grain.
The operating cash-generation metric (EBITDA) relative to financial expenses turned negative at -0.06 times in December 2024, against a positive 2.02 times in December 2023 — a severe deterioration caused by lower operating revenues. Debt-service coverage remained sufficient at 2.10 times; liquidity is ample and overall indebtedness is contracting as equity grows.
What it is doing now
In March 2025, Bolivia’s financial regulator ASFI authorised Gravetal’s fourth commercial-paper programme — “Pagarés Bursátiles GRAVETAL IV” — for up to USD 50 million, registered as ASFI/DSV-PED-GRB-004/2025. This is how the company funds its soybean-buying campaigns between harvests.
Between 16 and 30 March 2026 alone, Gravetal contracted Bs 224.9 million (≈ USD 22.8 million) in fresh bank loans from three Bolivian banks — a volume equivalent to roughly 36% of all its bank borrowings during the entire year 2024. The surge signals an aggressive buying campaign ahead of the 2026 summer harvest.
This is news, not investment advice.
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