The governors of Tierra del Fuego, Gustavo Melella, and of the Chinese province of Shaanxi, Zhao Yide, agreed to an investment of 1,250 million dollars from the company Shaanxi Coal Group to open a fertilizer plant in the Argentine province with the aim of supplying to the domestic market and export surpluses, at a time when the international crisis is making these products scarce. The agreement was signed on Monday night.in a zoom in which the Secretary of Production, José Ignacio De Mendiguren, and the ambassadors of Argentina, Sabino Vaca Narvaja, and China, Zou Xiaoli, also participated.
In his speech, Melella emphasized the strategic importance of the province of Tierra del Fuego, thanked Vaca Narvaja for his efforts, highlighted the presence of Mendiguren and said that this project has the support of President Alberto Fernández.
For its part, The Chinese ambassador highlighted Argentina’s entry into La Franja y La Ruta and that these investments are the product of deepening cooperation. Likewise, Zou Xiaoli assured that the cooperation format proposed by China is one of mutual benefit and shared development.
Ambassador Sabino Vaca Narvaja highlighted that this project is reactivated within the framework of 50 years of bilateral relations and it is a clear sign of comprehensive progress in cooperation. In turn, he stressed that he is going to place Argentina as an exporter of fertilizers, a product that today is a strategic good for the world, in addition to supplying our agricultural sector. And he reported that The investment foresees the improvement of the ports of Tierra del Fuego and the construction of a thermal power plant that will supply energy to the plant and also to the province.
In the agreement, Shaanxi Coal Group commits to invest in the development of a project with an annual capacity of 600,000 tons of synthetic ammonia and 900,000 tons of urea, among other fertilizers and herbicides. To that end, it will also build a multipurpose port terminal with an internal enclosure (allowing the mooring of 20,000-ton ships) and a 100MW power plant.
The investment of 1,250 million dollars had been analyzed 10 days ago during a visit by Vaca Narvaja to the Chinese provincewhere he met with Governor Zhao Yide and toured a model plant of the Chinese company Shaanxi Coal and Chemical Industry Group Co., together with its president, Yang Zhaoqian, where urea is produced with facilities similar to those proposed. The signing of the agreement takes place within the framework of Argentina’s participation in the sixth Investment and Trade Fair, organized by the province of Shaanxi within the framework of La Franja y la Ruta, which included the participation of the Argentine ambassador in the opening ceremony
With more than 200 thousand square kilometers of surface, a population of 40 million inhabitants and a GDP of 404 billion dollars, Shaanxi is the province of origin of the historic Silk Road and is the central node of the central region of China.
