World Bank arranges $295m of finance for Arg. soymeal exporter

The International Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of the World Bank, has arranged $295 million worth of financing for Argentina-based crusher Vicentin in a move that will likely lead to increased exports of soybean and related products over the coming years.

Vicentin, a family-owned business with soybean crushing capacity of 29,500 mt a day, is one of Argentina’s biggest oilseed crushers.

The financing, arranged by the IFC, French bank Natixis and Dutch bank Rabobank, includes extending an $89-million loan from a previous agreement that was used to help the company buy soybeans for processing at its plants to create soymeal and soyoil for export.

“The financing package structured by IFC, Natixis, and Rabobank will support expansion of production and exports, as well as strengthen our competitiveness,” said Vicentin Vice-President, Alberto Macua.

“We are thrilled to partner once again with these key relationship banks,” he said in a statement released last week. 

The IFC, which is the part of the World Bank that mobilizes investments in the private sector in emerging markets, has mobilized about $1 billion in investment in the grains and oilseeds sector in Argentina in the past three years.

That investment has concurred at the same time centre-right President Mauricio Macri has prioritised the growth of the country’s agrarian sector in his economic plan.

Wheat and corn export taxes were eliminated just a few weeks after Macri took office in 2015, while export taxes on soybeans will fall from current levels of 30% to 12% by the end of next year.

Argentina is the world’s third largest producer and exporter of soybean, accounting for around half of the world’s soymeal exports.

It is also thought to be the world's lowest cost producer of beans.

The financing consists of two separate tranches of six and seven year loans.

Participating institutions included: ING, Credit Agricole, ABN Amro, FMO, Banco Itaú BBA, Cordiant Allianz, Cordiant Fund IV, Federated Core Fund as well as Federated Tender Fund.