Weekly Report - 17 November 2016 (WR-16-45)

URUGUAY | Efice investment. On 10 November Uruguayan chemical firm Efice announced plans for a US$300m investment in a new chemical industrial complex and wind energy farm in the southern department of San José. Efice president Néstor Gómez Alcorta said that the so-called ‘Omega project’ will allow the firm to triple its production of bleach, caustic soda, and other derivatives, with half of the new complex’s production going to supply the domestic market and the rest to be exported to other countries in the region. Gómez added that the project would “impact the national economy in a positive way”, noting that it represents the single largest investment in the country by a Uruguayan-owned firm. According to an Efice statement, the Omega project will comprise an industrial complex with 24 interconnected factories and a wind farm with a 60MW generation capacity that will provide clean and renewable energy to the complex. In addition, the statement says that the project also contemplates the construction of two riverine barges that will help to transport the complex’s products to markets abroad. Gómez said that the project would also interest the increasingly relevant national pulp and paper industry, as pulp mills use large quantities of caustic soda. In fact, Gómez said that the Omega project would be able to supply 50% of the caustic soda used by Uruguay’s three major pulp mills, which currently import all of it and face “huge logistical problems and costs”. The project was also celebrated by industry, energy & mining minister Carolina Cosse, who attended the presentation of the project along with President Tabaré Vázquez. “This is a very big project that covers a number of chemical industry areas and incorporates innovation, scientific research, and technology, all of which is fundamental for national production”, Cosse said. She added that Uruguay’s chemical industry’s output last year reached US$1.3bn.

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