BASF invests €2.5 million to expand inoculants, biologicals production in Argentina

BASF's Agricultural Solutions Division revealed to AgroPages that it has invested €2.5 million to increase its production capacity at its inoculant and biological products plant by 30%.

The information was provided during an event commemorating the 10th anniversary of the launch of the BASF plant in Santo Tomé in the Argentine province of Santa Fé, which was attended by producers, authorities, employees and the community represented by various institutions, as well as strategic allies in the sector.

Since 2015, the plant has seen a year-on-year growth of over 10% in terms of production volume. This sustained growth has enabled the company, since 2019, to invest more in capacity expansion.

Santo Tomé is a plant that produces bioproducts for agriculture of the Agricultural Solutions Division of BASF, which occupies a plot measuring 1.2 hectares and has a constructed area of 2,300 m².

At the plant, inoculants and biological products are produced with state-of-the-art technological equipment, complying with the highest quality standards and strict safety protocols, which guarantee the efficiency of the solutions brought from the laboratory to the field.

″Our factory in São Tomé is strategic. It is the only BASF production plant in Latin America specializing in the formulation of biological products for the seed treatment segment. Upgrading this production hub is yet another example of our long-term commitment to Argentina, after more than 70 years in the country,″ said Gustavo Portis (Director of BASF’s Agricultural Solutions Division for Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia).

Florencia Palacio (Plant and Operations Manager) said that ″a new 15,000-liter bioreactor was acquired, and we incorporated it into our reactors for biotechnological processes. We also work with a national supplier on a unique aseptic automatic packaging technology in the market, which is important for the quality of the solutions we offer. We also worked with the same local supplier, and we incorporated a robotic team to obtain greater speed and efficiency in this packaging process.″

″From here, we export solutions to Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. In addition, in 2021, we first export, to Brazil, the Gelfix inoculant, which was previously only produced there. In 2022, we doubled our supply volume to 40% of the demand for this product in that country,″ Palacio added.

The factory has a regular staff of 25 people, quadrupling the number of employees since its creation, and works with 45 suppliers from Santo Tomé and the Santa Fé metropolitan area, focusing on contracting suppliers of local goods and services to generate indirect employment.

According to BASF, the production of inoculants at the factory represents a ″key element for the development of biological products, which are strategic for BASF in Argentina, since this is part of its commitments to evolve towards more sustainable solutions that improve productivity for farmers.″

Likewise, since 2019, the factory has been working on improving the efficiency of its water use, achieved a 32% reduction in 2021.

″On this anniversary, BASF also is also celebrating its many years of working together with the São Tomé community, and we will continue to promote its development,″ Palacio said in conclusion.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)