Sweet deal: Argentine candy maker sees new business in its own port.(Trade Lanes)(Brief Article)

A new port will grow from a sweet dream to a moneymaking reality for Argentine candy producer Axcor. The company will spend US$20 million to build its own port in San Pedro, about 150 kilometers north of Buenos Aires. The port will export products coming from Arcor's 31 industrial candy plants across South America. By March 2005, the 50,000-square-meter storage and shipping facility will move 1 million tons of grain, candy, cookies, chocolates and canned goods to 109 countries across 5 continents. Arcor says it will handle imports and exports of $300 million a year.

Arcor will build the port in a joint venture with Agropecuaria Los Grobo, one of the largest grain producers in Argentina and Uruguay. Agropecuaria Los Grobo will ship out wheat, corn and soy from the port. Grain trade demands specific infrastructure for the port, and the joint venture will install a multi-purpose terminal to handle grains as well as containers.

For Pablo Actis, operations manager of Arcor's San Pedro plant, the project is important for his candy factory, which exports about 800 containers a year. "We will have the advantage of owning a port that will allow us to efficiently reach Uruguay and the Atlantic, reducing costs for the company," Actis says.

Argentina's Transportation Ministry and Arcor will work together to build a railroad spur and a freeway to connect existing infrastructure with the port. It is expected that more than 100,000 trucks a year will use the new route and inject $15 million into San Pedro's economy. Arcor has donated some of its own land for the construction of new homes for more than 160 families that will need to relocate as a consequence of the port's construction. The project is also part of Arcor's plan to reinvest its profits into operational upgrades.

CARLOS RAMOS * MIAMI

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