San Miguel is listed in the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, and controlled by a group of individual shareholders. The company also has operations in sweet citrus and lemons in Uruguay, through its subsidiaries.

IFC is supporting San Miguel with a syndicated corporate loan, financing overall lemon production and processing operations with a particular focus on environmental matters and treatment of the company’s industrial waste. IFC is proposing to lend $20 million of long term debt for its own account, and to syndicate a B loan with other lenders.

20.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	20.0
Equity

* These investment figures are indicative

San Miguel’s offices and its main fresh fruit packing facility are located in the suburbs of San Miguel de Tucumán, while its plantations are scattered in the province. San Miguel industrial processing plant is located in Famaillá, about 30km away from the town.

San Miguel is operating in a business where long term working capital is critical to maintain its most precious long term productive assets: its plantations. IFC’s role is key to match debt liabilities and life span of assets, since San Miguel operates in a country where long term financing is scarce. By syndicating the loan, IFC is seeking to reinforce San Miguel’s relationship to other lenders that will benefit from the IFC umbrella. With the difficulties of the sugar industry on which the economy of the Province of Tucumán has been based for over 125 years, the lemon fruit sector has become a major source of employment and revenues in the region, employing over 15,000 persons at harvest period. San Miguel has had a strong demonstration effect in Tucumán’s citrus sector. Already certified under HAACP for its operations both in Argentina and in Uruguay, San Miguel received further international recognition of its very high standards in 2001 as the first company in Argentina´s citrus industry to be granted EurepGap certification (best agricultural practice for food safety, environment and worker safety and welfare). The implementation of this project, and the environmental component in particular, will make it the first lemon processor in Argentina to treat its waste in a sustainable, low impact manner. This is the result of San Miguel’s commitment to this difficult issue as well as its long standing interactions with international experts, including the IFC.

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s Procedure for Environmental and Social Review of Projects because a limited number of specific environmental and social impacts may result that can be avoided or mitigated by adhering to generally recognized performance standards, guidelines or design criteria. The review of this project consisted of appraising technical and environmental /social information submitted by the project sponsor, a physical inspection of industrial processing facilities, and discussions with the sponsor’s professional team responsible for management of environmental and social issues. The following potential environment, health and safety and social impacts of the projects were analyzed.

- Existing and planned management systems for food safety, quality, environmental and social affairs;
- Employment considerations in view of relocation of selected industrial operations;
- Air emissions from steam and heat generation;
- Sustainability and quality of potable water supply used in fresh fruit processing and food manufacturing;
- Industrial effluent management;
- Uruguayan operations;
- Solid waste management; and
- Occupational health and safety in processing, agriculture and allied facilities.
Location of environmental documents in locally affected community
IFC prepare an Environmental Review Summary (ERS) for the project as part of its public disclosure obligations regarding its investments and their associated environmental and social impacts. The ERS was translated in Spanish and made available to the public in the city halls of Famaillá and Lules. The availability of the document was first announced in local newspapers on April 8, 2005. The community will be able to review this document until mid-May 2005. Any questions or enquiries regarding the project may be directed to: Sr. Daniel Dip, Gerente de Industria, (54) 3863 461427, Ruta Provincial 301, Km 33, Estación Padilla.