LatinNews Daily - 20 July 2026

*Argentine energy company Pampa Energía has announced that it will invest US$2.7bn in the construction of a granular urea production plant in Bahía Blanca municipality, Buenos Aires province. The venture marks the company’s entry into the fertiliser business and fits within its strategy “to monetize shale gas reserves in Vaca Muerta through the development of high value-added businesses while further strengthening the company’s industrial profile,” it said in statement. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 2.1m tonnes of granular urea which it says will make it “the largest urea plant in Latin America by production capacity”. The company said that the fertiliser business will contribute around US$1bn per year to the Argentine economy, and that at peak construction the project is expected to create more than direct 3,500 jobs and “a significant number of indirect jobs throughout the supply chain”, as well as employing around 300 people once operational. Pampa has applied for the project to qualify under Argentina’s large investment incentive regime (Rigi) which it argues is essential for its development. The company’s chairman, Marcelo Mindlin, said that the plant will reduce dependence on foreign suppliers of fertilisers through “a reliable and competitive domestic supply of urea while creating new export opportunities”, mitigating risks posed by “geopolitical uncertainty”.

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