Monsanto to Invest in Argentine Corn Factory

Agrochemical giant Monsanto (IW 1000/371) will direct most of a $365 million investment in Argentina to a corn seed factory in the central city of Cordoba, the local government there announced Tuesday.

Argentina is the world's second largest producer of corn and Monsanto will consecrate $329 million of its overall investment to the factory, the rest going to "two new experimental facilities" in Cordoba and Tucuman province.

The new factory is scheduled to open in 2013 and produce enough seed to sow 8.65 million acres of fields, an area 1.7 times the size of Wales or almost nine times the size of the state of Rhode Island.

After the plant is complete, Argentina will boast the two largest factories for seed production in the world, Monsanto reported.

In addition to corn, Argentina is the world's foremost seller of soybean oil as well as the third largest seller of soybeans.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012