Producer
Empresa Metalúrgica Vinto (EM Vinto)
Bolivian state-owned tin smelter in Oruro, Bolivia; nationalized in 2007 from Glencore. Produces ~11,000-13,000 tonnes refined tin annually (~2,890 tonnes Q1 2020, ~73% of Bolivia's refined output). Processes ore from Huanuni and Colquiri state tin mines. Bolivia has significant tin deposits but Vinto's refining capacity limits output. EM Vinto provides a South American alternative to Chinese refined tin for float glass bath supply.
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Refined Tin Production (Oruro Smelter)
80%Tin Byproduct Metals
20%
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Did you know2023
Bolivia controls two strategic mineral supply chains simultaneously through state-owned enterprises: refined tin (EM Vinto, Oruro -- glass and electronics supply chains) and lithium (YLB/Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos -- EV battery supply chain). Bolivia holds the world's largest lithium reserves (Salar de Uyuni) AND is a non-trivial refined tin producer (~3% global supply). A Bolivian government instability event -- constitutional crisis (Bolivia has had three coups or government changes since 2019), fiscal crisis affecting SOE operations, or nationalization of additional foreign mining assets that triggers investor withdrawal -- would simultaneously affect tin supply for glass manufacturers and lithium supply for EV battery manufacturers. The glass industry and the EV industry share a sovereign geopolitical risk in Bolivia that neither industry's procurement community typically monitors as a combined exposure.
US Geological Survey ↗Origin2023
Empresa Metalurgica Vinto was nationalized by Bolivian President Evo Morales in 2007 -- seized from Glencore (then Xstrata) as part of Bolivia's resource nationalism wave that also nationalized hydrocarbons and later lithium. The Vinto smelter in Oruro was originally built during Bolivia's tin mining boom and had previously been nationalized and then privatized multiple times through Bolivia's turbulent political history. Glencore acquired it during a privatization cycle; Morales re-nationalized it as a flagship of his nationalization agenda alongside YPFB (state oil company) and COMIBOL (state mining company). The 2007 nationalization was controversial because Glencore contested the compensation terms; the resulting legal dispute was eventually settled. Bolivia's tin smelting sector remains entirely state-controlled through EM Vinto -- a country that also holds the world's largest lithium reserves (also state-controlled through Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos/YLB). The same Bolivian government that controls lithium supply for EV batteries also controls tin smelting for float glass and electronics.
Empresa Metalurgica Vinto ↗