MSU Argentina is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

business conglomerate with operations in the agricultural, agro-industrial, and energy sectors. It is composed of three independent companies: MSU Agro, dedicated to agricultural production; MSU Energy, an electricity producer; and MSU Green Energy, focused on

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

History and Development

The Uribelarrea family comes from a long tradition in agricultural activity in Argentina, dating back to 1860. In 1978, Manuel Santos de Uribelarrea Duhau took over the management of his family's fields in

Villa Cañás Villa Cañás is a small city in the south of the , some 370 km from Santa Fe, Argentina, the provincial capital and not far from Venado Tuerto. It has about 9,817 inhabitants as per the . The city was founded in 1902 by Juan Cañás, and ac ...

, in the province of Santa Fe, focusing on grain production, aiming to improve yields and soil conservation. He introduced the adoption of

conservation tillage Tillage is the agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shoveling, picking, mattock work, hoein ...

crop rotation Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. This practice reduces the reliance of crops on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, along with the pro ...

, integrated

soil management Soil management is the application of operations, practices, and treatments to protect soil and enhance its performance (such as soil fertility or soil mechanics). It includes soil conservation, soil amendment, and optimal soil health. In agricult ...

, nutrient replenishment,

direct seeding Sowing is the process of planting seeds. An area that has had seeds planted in it will be described as a sowed or sown area. Plants which are usually sown Among the major field crops, oats, wheat, and rye are sown, grasses and legumes are se ...

, and

genetically modified crops Genetically modified crops (GM crops) are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering methods. Plant genomes can be engineered by physical methods or by use of '' Agrobacterium'' for the delivery of ...

, which allowed for a significant boost in productivity while considerably reducing the use of

agrochemical An agrochemical or agrichemical, a contraction of ''agricultural chemical'', is a chemical product used in industrial agriculture. Agrichemical typically refers to biocides (pesticides including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and nematicide ...

s. In 1998, Manuel Santos Uribelarrea Balcarce (son of Manuel Santos de Uribelarrea Duhau) founded a new company focused on large-scale agricultural production on both owned and leased lands. As a joint initiative between father and son, they named the company after their initials: MSU. Since its inception, the company continued with the adoption of technology applied to production, such as

precision agriculture Precision agriculture (PA) is a management strategy that gathers, processes and analyzes temporal, spatial and individual plant and animal data and combines it with other information to support management decisions according to estimated varia ...

, and the use of genetically modified seeds. MSU quickly expanded across various regions in Argentina, as well as in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. In 2007, they launched an investment fund aimed at large international institutional investors, focused on the purchase of land in the region, covering the main agricultural areas of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil. With the growth experienced in its operations and in order to improve the company's debt profile, in 2013, it entered the capital markets to obtain long-term financing through the issuance of Negotiable Obligations, under the regulation of the National Securities Commission. In 2013, the first forays into the energy industry were made with the evaluation of

corn ethanol Corn ethanol is ethanol produced from corn biomass and is the main source of ethanol fuel in the United States, mandated to be blended with gasoline in the Renewable Fuel Standard. Corn ethanol is produced by ethanol fermentation and distill ...

production projects. In 2016, the group made its first investment in energy, with the launch of three open-cycle thermoelectric plants, built by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

. These plants, located in General Rojo and Barker in the

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

, and

Villa María Villa Maria or Villamaria may refer to: Places * Villa María, Córdoba, a city in Córdoba, Argentina * Villa de María del Río Seco, another town in Córdoba, Argentina * Villamaría, Caldas, Colombia a town and municipality * Villa Maria (Lon ...

in the province of Córdoba, had an installed capacity of 150 MW each, with long-term energy supply contracts signed with Cammesa. The plants have long-term maintenance contracts with General Electric. In 2020, the three plants will increase their capacity and generation efficiency with their expansion and transformation into combined cycles, reaching a total power of 750 MW. In 2022, MSU Green Energy was created, focused on the development of renewable energies. The group's renewable energy generation division currently has 8 parks, of which 2 are in commercial operation, 3 are expected to begin operations by the end of 2024, and the remaining 3 are scheduled to start in mid-2025. It has strategic clients such as

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

, Dow, and

Air Liquide Air Liquide S.A. ( , ; literally " liquid air") is a French multinational company which supplies industrial gases and services to various industries including medical, chemical and electronic manufacturers. Founded in 1902, after Linde it is ...

, to which it supplies

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

Structure

MSU Argentina is composed of three business units organized into independent companies. *MSU Agro: Focuses on large-scale agricultural production across a portfolio of owned and leased lands. It operates in the province of Buenos Aires, southern Santa Fe, southern

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

, northeastern

La Pampa La Pampa () is a sparsely populated province of Argentina, located in the Pampas in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise San Luis, Córdoba, Buenos Aires, Río Negro, Neuquén and Mendoza. History In ...

, Entre Ríos, northeastern

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a sur ...

, and southwestern Chaco. They produce

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the pr ...

, and

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

s. The company annually plants around 220,000 hectares in Argentina, with a production of over one million tons of grain. In addition to grain production, the company manages an investment fund with agricultural assets in Brazil, in the state of

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

. The company's latest step was to join the agri-food chain, with the construction of one of the largest peanut processing plants to supply the European industrial consumer market. *MSU Energy: Dedicated to electricity generation, the company operates three combined-cycle thermoelectric plants, with a total capacity exceeding 750 MW. *MSU Green Energy: Dedicated to the generation of renewable electricity, it has 8 solar parks at various stages of construction and operation, along with a pipeline of 4 additional projects, with a total generation capacity of 835 MW.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MSU Argentina Argentine brands Companies listed on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange Companies in the MERVAL Companies based in Buenos Aires