Weekly Report - 29 September 2011 (WR-11-39)

ARGENTINA | Farming. The largest manufacturer of farm equipment, Deere & Co, will build a US$100m plant in the central farming province of Santa Fe to produce tractors and combine harvesters. Argentina currently imports the majority of its farm equipment. Deere representatives met President Cristina Fernández on 26 September and presented her with an investment plan to 2015 to enlarge its factory in Santa Fe, provide 300 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs, and produce four tractor models and four combines, all of which are currently imported. The agricultural sector has been in rude health in recent years but Argentina is highly vulnerable to a slowdown in demand and fall in prices. The Deere announcement is a fillip for the Fernández administration: although she looks assured of re-election, with less than one month until general elections, Fernández has been accused of failing to diversify; an over-reliance on exports; and a high import bill of capital goods and intermediate inputs.