Chile: the balanced view : a recopilation of articles about the Allende years and after

AII the major enterprises are considering and have made extensive stud ies on projects for maJor expansions of their plants. The Paper and Cardboard Mal!ufactur-ing Corporation Is considering the purchase of a machine for production of tíssue paper (35,000-ton capacity) for the domestic market. which would eliminate impcírts ofthis product. Celulosa Arauco ís planning installations for fine papers (50,000 tons; investments, US$ 20 million), ·and Celulosa Constitución is consideringthe addition of a Kraft paper plant after it has started production in late 1974. In addition, many specific projects in-differents stages of development could be mentioned. Some of them will promote an increase in exports, but they are not included among the possibilíties under consideration in this reporto 2. Steelmaking al The project that is being implemented involves increasing the production capacity of the present plant from 600,000 tons to approximately 75(;1,000 tons in 1976, in order to reach acapacityof 1 millíon tons in 1977. Later, a metallurgical coke plant, to becompleted by 1979, will be included in the project. The total investment includes a wharf and raw materíals yards, a coke plant, converters and auxiliary installations, a rolled steel mili, coil and thick plate milis. and a thermoelectric gas plant with blast fumace. The total investment will be approxímately $ 152 million in local currency, of which $ 106 million and 100-million-dollar equivalents still have to beinvested. If the investment described is not made, the country will have to import semifinished products -considerable quantities of cold rolled bars and coils- asreflected i,fthe figures below: Year 1975 1976 1977 1978 TOTAL Tons 230,000 280,000 320,000 370,000 US$ (millions) 57 70 80 92 299 However, if the program described aboye is completed on schedule, certain amounts of semifinished products will be exported over a number of years, generating theforeign currency income estimated below: Year 1977 1978 1979 1980 US$ (millions) 13 8 8 8 After 1978 it will be necessary to consider installing a third blast furnace, which wiil permit exportation of a certain quota of semifínished products to Japan andother regions of the world. b) Molybdenite concent~ate processing plant. Construction has already begun on this plant, which will cost $1 O million (50 percent in foreign currency) and will produce, after 1976, 8.8 miIlion pounds of molybdenum trioxide and 7,000 pounds of metallic rhenium, with an export value close to $ 23 mili ion. cl Steel drawing plant. With an approxi mate annual capacity of 55,000 tons of finished products, the plant will 242