Within the framework of the inauguration of Expoagro 2023, The Government announced a $28,000 million investment package to boost the agro-industrial sector, affected by the severe drought that a large part of the country is suffering.
It was through the Secretary of Industry and Productive Development, José Ignacio de Mendiguren at a press conference, together with the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Juan José Bahillo, the president of the Bank of the Argentine Nation (BNA), Silvina Batakis, and the heads of the National Institute of Agricultural Technology ( INTA), Mariano Garmendia, and from the National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI), Sandra Mayol.
In addition, together with Batakis, he announced the duplication of the BNA line of credits for the purchase of agricultural machinery to $5,000 million, since the initial quota was exhausted in the first hour of the agro-industrial day.
“Our goal is to structurally change Argentina, and to achieve that this sector is key,” affirmed Mendiguren and detailed: “Today with this announcement we ratify our commitment to this sector, with concrete investments. We are aware of the difficulties, but we do not stop investing public resources because when the drought passes, the sector has to find the necessary strength to recover and continue developing. Together we want to build a second agro-industrial and value-added floor to the field”.
In this sense, the secretary considered the investment in financing by the National State to accompany the “all those companies that are developing technological projects so that agribusiness continues advancing in the technological frontier”, and pointed out: “This is the political decision we have: to be next to production and bring solutions to problems.”
For his part, Bahillo highlighted: “From the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, throughout these seven months of management, we have contributed more than 40,000 million pesos in different programs to accompany producers so that they can continue producing and somewhat mitigate the effects of the drought”. “To the extent that the productive capacity of our producers does not suffer, we will have met the objective. And we will achieve that by having a State that is close to the producers and the productive sectors,” he added.
Batakis held that “We have the vocation of public articulation, and these actions show that we want to be an efficient State. Today we announce lines of credit for 40 billion pesos for the purchase of machinery because we have the decision to accompany one of the sectors that are the engine of the national productive network”.
During his visit to Expoagro, Mendiguren visited the stands of agro-industrial companies, especially dedicated to the development of machinery and equipment for agricultural use, such as Akron; Fertec; metalfor; Apache; Ombú trailers; Ford Motors Argentina; Vassalli Fabril; and Crucianelli, which received assistance from the National Government for the purchase of capital goods and equipment that allowed them to improve their productivity. Akron is a company dedicated to the manufacture of machinery and equipment for agricultural and forestry use, it has 348 employees and was supported by the National State to improve productivity and increase processing capacity.
Fertec, another of the companies with which Mendiguren met at ExpoAgro, which is dedicated to the manufacture of machinery and equipment for agricultural use, especially fertilizers, plans to acquire equipment and improve its productivity.
Meanwhile, Metalfor, which manufactures sprayers, harvesters and fertilizers in the province of Córdoba, has 762 employees and plans to acquire capital goods to expand its productive capacity through the CreAR financing program.
Apache, which from La Parejas, Santa Fe, manufactures agricultural machinery, through financing from the CreAr Program, plans to expand its industrial plant and add equipment; and the companies Vasalli Fabril, which manufactures combine harvesters; and Crucinanelli, which manufactures planters, applied to the Capital Assets Regime.
“We have growth projections. We are about to inaugurate a new Metallo plant and a new Crucianelli Group engineering and development plant.” detailed Raúl Crucinanelli. Remolques Ombú, which manufactures agricultural machinery, plans to carry out an investment project through PRODEPRO to acquire tunnels and tube processing lasers for the mining sector. The owners of the firm, Orlando and Leandro Castellani, highlighted the accompaniment of the National Government: “The contribution that the State is making is an important incentive, what works best is the Banco Nación rate, which monetized a lot of credit, and from provincial banks. We don’t have an excellent year, but the field is going to get ahead”.
The secretary also toured the stand of Ford Motors Argentina, which yesterday announced to Minister Massa that it will invest 80 million dollars to manufacture state-of-the-art engines for its new Ford Ranger at its Pacheco plant.
Data from the agro-industrial sector
In 2022, industrial food and beverage production as a whole was the highest since at least 2004, with 11 of 13 food and beverage subdivisions growing in 2022 versus 2021 and 12 growing versus 2019.
The agricultural machinery sector also reached in 2022 the maximum production since at least 2016, where the production of tractors stands out with more than 7,100 units produced, a historical record since 1986, where it reached 8,000 units. Crude steel production in January 2023 (442,400 tons) was 0.6% higher than December 2022 (439,600 tons) and 25.1% higher than January 2022 (353,800 tons).
Primary iron production in January 2023 (328,800 tns) was 0.5% higher than December 2022 (327,300 tns) and 1.3% higher than January 2022 (324,600 tns). Within the framework of record exports of more than US$ 100,000 million, in 2022 exports of primary products and manufactures of agro-industrial origin were US$ 57,000 million, 8% above 2021.
Source: Ambito
