MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina to export dynamite to Peru for civilian purposes

Argentina Minister of Defense Jorge Taiana. The new deal will allow for the return of workers laid off in 2018

Argentina's state-run Fabricaciones Militares (Military Productions) Tuesday agreed to sell dynamite for civilian purposes to the company Exsa, a member of the Peruvian group Orica.

The agreement provides for the export to Peru over the next five years of an annual volume of up to 2,150 tons of dynamite and up to 630 tons per year of master mix (raw material for dynamite) for civilian use, explained the Argentine Ministry of Defense in a statement.

“We are showing that Fabricaciones Militares and the Defense industry produce at internationally competitive levels,” which can “give us greater autonomy,” the statement went on.

“It is an agreement that shows the quality of our products and that opens the possibility to international markets,” Defense Minister Jorge Taiana said.

Fabricaciones Militares' Gunpowder and Explosives plant in Villa María, Córdoba, will carry out the continuous supply of master mix and dynamite for the development of Exsa's economic and commercial activities.

With the new agreement, the plant's output capacity will be pushed to 95%, which will allow for the return of workers laid off in 2018, it was reported.

Included in Tuesday's deal was a preferential right in favor of Exsa over the future production of dynamite and master mix of Fabricaciones Militares' Blue Gunpowder and Explosives Fanazul factory in the Buenos Aires town of Azul.

In addition to increasing the supply volume, the new decisions will lead to the reactivation of these facilities, which were shut down in 2018, during the administration of former President Mauricio Macri.