Ameropa Paraguay was officially incorporated on 5th April 2022 and we
went live in June. As part of our strategy to Get Closer to the grower,
we took the decision in 2021 to establish an office in Paraguay for the
purpose of importing fertilizers and delivering bulk blended products to
fertilizer distributors in the country. We have been supplying the
Paraguay market in the past but mainly on the basis of as and when we
had available unsold cargoes on our vessels headed for Argentina. With
the new operation in Paraguay we are able to make deliberate decisions
of importing inventories to maintain a constant supply presence that
will be valued by local distributors and growers. 
 
Our first
year with local presence (2021) not only showed good results in terms of
volumes but also allowed us to sell bulk blends, deliver cargo in
trucks to final customers and obtain exclusivity agreements.  2022 has
proven to be a challenge for the world, Paraguay in particular was hit
by the 70% loss of the 2022 soybean harvest, however the decrease in
volume allowed us to focus on setting up our office and learning about
the market.
 
With the local set up we aim to continue to
strengthen synergies under the overall Ameropa Conosur structure as well
as increase cooperation with our Brazilian office.  We expect the
import and distribution operation in Paraguay will be able to nicely
leverage our extensive activities in Brazil and Argentina.