The project sponsor is the Noble Group. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Hong Kong, the Noble Group is a major commodity trading group. Noble Argentina is 99% owned by Stelmont Group Limited, which is wholly-owned by Noble Group Limited, the holding company of the Noble Group.

The total project cost is estimated at $51.2 million. The proposed IFC investment comprises an A Loan of $18 million, for IFC’s own account, and a syndicated B Loan of $18 million, for the account of participant banks.

18.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	18.0
Equity

* These investment figures are indicative

The Timbues Port project will be a new grain river port located on the lower Parana River in Santa Fe province, about 35 km north of Rosario or 340 km from Buenos Aires.

Argentina has a comparatively large area of highly productive agricultural land. Ports and port grain-handling facilities are a critical link in Argentina’s grain marketing and transport system. Decentralization and privatization of the country’s transportation and grain-handling infrastructure have reduced costs. The Parana River has been upgraded through signaling and dredging, making it navigable by larger vessels and reducing transport costs. This has stimulated private investment in port infrastructure and vessels. The proposed project will increase the efficiency of the country’s transportation infrastructure, by providing a low cost operation for exporting agricultural products from Argentina, thereby enhancing the country’s international competitiveness. The project will contribute to increase the overall capacity of the grain export industry.

Due to the recent financial crisis in Argentina, the availability of financing for infrastructure projects continues to be scarce. In this context, IFC would provide Noble Argentina with long-term financing which is essential for this project but is not available from other sources. IFC’s proposed investment would support Noble Argentina’s growth by providing the Company with its own port infrastructure for grain exports, thereby enabling it to continue to reduce costs to its end customers. IFC’s involvement would also help mobilize other long-term financing through a B loan.

This is a category B project according to IFC’s environmental and social review procedure. Potential environmental issues associated with the project that were reviewed during appraisal include:

- environmental, health and safety performance of the existing Delta Dock grain terminal operated by Noble Argentina;
- Timbues site land acquisition and related social impacts;
- dust emissions from grain handling and storage;
- effluent and stormwater discharges;
- hazardous materials/pesticide handling and storage;
- emergency preparedness and response (including fire and explosion prevention);
- employee health and safety (including workplace air quality and noise); and
- environmental, health and safety management systems.

IFC’s Environmental and Social Department staff’s review of this project considered:

- information collected during the appraisal visit of the Delta Dock grain terminal;
- the appraisal visit of the Timbues port site; and
- the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Timbues Port and other relevant documentation provided by the company.

Based on this review, Noble Argentina demonstrates that its operations at Delta Dock comply, and the Timbues Port project will comply, with applicable Argentine laws and regulations, and World Bank/IFC requirements.
Location of environmental documents In locally affected community
Environmental documentation will be made available at the following location:

Timbues Port.
Brigadier E. López S/N. Zona Industrial. CP (2204).
Timbúes. Santa Fe. Argentina.