April 11, 2014
CHS invests in deep-water port at Necochea, Argentina
CHS, North America''s leading farmer-owned cooperative and a global energy, grains and foods company, has acquired 29.45% ownership of Sitio 0, a greenfield export terminal at Necochea, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Other terminal owners are South American grain companies E-Grain, Alejandro Nari, Alea and Lartirigoyen. The export terminal is expected to be operational by May 2015.
"Investing in this port on behalf of our farmer-owners further ensures market access to growing demand from customers in China and across the Asia-Pacific region," said Ignacio Bosch, general manager, CHS Argentina. "Necochea''s Sitio 0 terminal is a deep-water port, capable of loading post-Panamax size vessels at a rate of 1,200 tonnes per hour, along with 119,000 tonnes of storage capacity."
Mark Palmquist, CHS executive vice president and chief operating officer, agriculture business, said the Necochea terminal will improve overall export logistics and will decrease load times and waiting for vessels. Necochea is located on the Atlantic Ocean, 528 km southwest of Buenos Aires at the mouth of the Quequen Grande River. CHS will use the terminal to load soybeans, corn, wheat, sorghum, barley and soybean meal sourced from the area southeast of Buenos Aires.
CHS has been actively building its South American origination and export capabilities for more than 10 years and, Bosch said, the port investment is aligned with CHS growth strategy to expand global commodities assets and infrastructure.