China likes Tierra del Fuego

[from Latin American Herald Tribune, 17 January 2011]

Chinese Firm to Invest $1 Billion in Southern Argentina

BUENOS AIRES – A Chinese firm announced plans to invest $1 billion to build an agrochemical plant, a thermal power station and a commercial port in the southern Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego.

The president of Chinese firm Tierra del Fuego Energia y Quimica, Fernando Lin, made the announcement Thursday along with executives from Argentina’s Roggio infrastructure and services group, which will be in charge of the civil engineering works, the Argentine Industry Ministry said in a statement.

The Asian company will build an $800 million plant to produce urea – an organic compound widely used in fertilizers and also an important raw material for the chemical industry – at an industrial park in Rio Grande, a city some 3,000 kilometers (1,865 miles) south of Buenos Aires,

Another $130 million will be allocated for construction of a 50 MW combined-cycle power station that will provide electricity to the plant.

In addition, $70 million will be invested in a commercial port to export a portion of the production.

“The products will be transported via conveyor belt directly from the (company’s) warehouse, helping to reduce costs and “damage to roads and the environment,” the ministry’s statement said.

The Chinese firm, which is 70 percent state-owned, plans for construction to begin in March or April.

“This investment is the result of greater integration with China, which sees our country as a strategic destination for its investment outlays, and will create more value-added for our industry, substitute imports and create hundreds of jobs,” Industry Minister Debora Giorgi said.

Giorgi visited Beijing on Monday and Tuesday for a meeting with Chinese counterpart Chen Deming that was aimed at boosting Argentine exports to the Asian giant.

“Minister Chen Deming and I agreed on the excellent opportunity that Chinese cross-border investment represents and on the opportunities it provides Argentina to add value and substitute imports,” Giorgi said.