Argentina to invest 1.21 bln USD to improve agricultural export ports

The Argentinean government said on Friday that it would invest 1.21 billion U.S. dollars to expand the ports of the Greater Rosario region, which is the country's main agricultural export base.

The announcement was made by the chief of the cabinet of ministers Marcos Pena, Minister of Transport Guillermo Dietrich, and Miguel Lifschitz, governor of the province of Santa Fe, during the inauguration of new port installations for COFCO, China's largest foodstuffs conglomerate.

Pena told a press conference that the 1.21 billion U.S. dollars would be spent to expand the ports' capacity, allowing them to go from handling 5,000 tons to 12,000 tons of goods a day.

The government will also improve roads inside the port complex to allow up to 1,000 trucks a day to unload their goods, he added.

The Greater Rosario port complex is located north of Santa Fe's capital, Rosario. According to data from the Rosario Chamber of Commerce, since 2015, it has handled 80.9 percent of Argentina's exports of grain and derived products.

The first destination for these has been China, which has received 26 percent of these exports.

The ceremony on Friday was held to celebrate COFCO's new dock at the complex, which is part of a planned 27 million dollars in investments by COFCO. This investment will improve its agricultural processing plant at Timbues and facilities for the loading and unloading of grain.

"Works worth millions are coming to our ports due to our government, which generates trust and takes the necessary steps to generate productivity. Infrastructure is crucial to the movement of our economy and we must work together ... for the good of all Argentineans," Dietrich was quoted as saying in a government statement.

Argentina is the largest exporter in the world of soybean meal and soybean oil, the second-largest exporter of soy-based biodiesel and the third-largest exporter of soybeans. Endit