We have the project, but today you cannot enter the market
En la intersección entre el capital agroindustrial y la voluntad legislativa, la mayor cooperativa agropecuaria de Argentina sostiene un proyecto de $150 millones que no puede nacer porque el mercado que lo recibiría aún no existe por ley. AFA, con más de 16.000 socios y una facturación anual que supera los $2.200 millones, tiene firmados los acuerdos, evaluados los terrenos y listo el capital, pero espera que el Estado rediseñe las reglas antes de encender las máquinas. Es la paradoja clásica del desarrollo productivo: la inversión privada madura aguarda el permiso público para convertirse en realidad.
- Una planta de bioetanol de maíz con capacidad para 400 metros cúbicos permanece en papel porque el sistema de cupos vigente cierra el ingreso de nuevos actores al mercado de biocombustibles.
- Argentina mezcla apenas el 12% de bioetanol en nafta, uno de los porcentajes más bajos de la región, mientras el proyecto de AFA y su socio internacional esperan condiciones competitivas para operar.
- Un proyecto de ley impulsado por la senadora Patricia Bullrich propone eliminar los cupos, abrir el mercado a la libre competencia y elevar los porcentajes de mezcla al 15% en un plazo de doce meses.
- AFA ya tiene capital, infraestructura logística en 130 localidades, un memorándum firmado con una de las mayores petroleras del mundo y tres provincias candidatas para instalar la planta.
- El gerente general de la cooperativa fue explícito: sin una nueva ley de biocombustibles que abra el mercado, la inversión no puede concretarse, sin importar cuánto esté listo del lado privado.
Agricultores Federados Argentinos, la cooperativa agropecuaria más grande del país, tiene todo lo necesario para construir una planta de bioetanol de maíz valuada en más de $150 millones: el capital, los socios internacionales, los terrenos en evaluación y la red logística. Lo que no tiene es el marco legal que le permita ingresar al mercado.
AFA no es un actor menor. Con más de 16.000 socios activos, presencia en 130 localidades de diez provincias y una facturación anual que supera los $2.200 millones, la cooperativa es el mayor acopiador de granos del país. En los últimos años también diversificó hacia biológicos, molienda y aceites. La planta de bioetanol sería su próximo salto industrial: una instalación de 400 metros cúbicos con un socio estratégico —presuntamente la petrolera estatal de Abu Dhabi— cuyo nombre no puede confirmar por acuerdos de confidencialidad.
El obstáculo es regulatorio. El sistema vigente de biocombustibles opera mediante cupos que restringen quién puede producir y cuánto puede mezclarse en los combustibles. Con apenas un 12% de bioetanol en nafta, Argentina se ubica entre los países con menores porcentajes de mezcla de la región. Gonzalo Del Piano, gerente general de AFA, lo resumió sin rodeos: hoy el mercado está cerrado, y sin una nueva ley que lo abra, el proyecto no puede avanzar.
Esa ley podría estar en camino. Un proyecto presentado por la senadora Patricia Bullrich propone un régimen de 15 años basado en la liberalización del sector: elimina los cupos, habilita el libre acceso a la actividad y eleva los porcentajes de mezcla —biodiesel al 10% y bioetanol al 15%— en un plazo de doce meses. Para AFA, la aprobación de esa norma equivale a una señal de largada. Mientras tanto, la planta espera.
Agricultores Federados Argentinos, the country's largest agricultural cooperative, is sitting on plans for a $150 million corn bioethanol plant. The machinery is in place, the partnerships are signed, the location is being scouted across three provinces. But the project cannot move forward. Not yet. The cooperative is waiting for a law that does not yet exist.
AFA operates at a scale that commands attention. The cooperative, born from the membership of the Argentine Agricultural Federation, counts more than 16,000 active members who worked through the last fiscal year. It maintains commercial offices, distribution centers, and grain storage facilities across 130 towns in ten provinces. Its storage capacity alone—3.2 million tons—makes it the single largest grain handler in the country. In the most recent year, it moved 6.8 million tons through its system. The cooperative's annual revenue exceeds $2.2 billion. Its assets total more than $830 million.
Beyond grain, AFA has diversified. In 2024, it opened a specialized facility for researching and producing high-quality biological inputs. At its industrial park in Ramallo, it invested $6 million in a biologics plant with the capacity to serve 1.5 million hectares. The cooperative also operates a flour mill and an oil pressing facility, both substantial revenue generators. This is an organization with real infrastructure and real capital.
The bioethanol plant represents the next step in that expansion. The facility would process corn into bioethanol at a capacity of 400 cubic meters. AFA has signed a memorandum of understanding with one of the world's largest oil companies—believed to be the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, though the cooperative has not confirmed the name due to confidentiality agreements. The cooperative is evaluating sites in Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, or Córdoba provinces. Everything is ready except the market itself.
Gonzalo Del Piano, AFA's general manager, was direct about the obstacle. "We have the project for a bioethanol production plant, but today you cannot enter the market because it is closed, with quotas," he said. The current regulatory framework for biofuels in Argentina operates through a quota system that limits who can produce and how much can be blended into fuel. The country's mandated blending percentages—12 percent bioethanol in gasoline—rank among the lowest in the region. "The cooperative already adds value to soybeans and wheat, and we want to do the same with corn," Del Piano added. "We think it's a good market, as long as a new biofuels law is passed that opens the market and increases the permitted blend."
That law may be coming. In recent days, Senator Patricia Bullrich and other lawmakers introduced a bill that would reshape the sector entirely. The proposal creates a 15-year regulatory regime centered on market liberalization and open competition. It eliminates the quota system in favor of what it calls "free access to the activity," allowing any qualified producer to enter and compete. The blending mandates would rise: biodiesel in diesel fuel from 7.5 percent to 10 percent within twelve months, and bioethanol in gasoline from 12 percent to 15 percent in the same timeframe.
For AFA, the bill represents permission to act. The cooperative has the capital, the logistics network, the international partnership, and the raw material. What it needs is a market that functions like a market. The legislation is pending. The plant remains on paper. The cooperative waits.
Citações Notáveis
We have the project for a bioethanol production plant, but today you cannot enter the market because it is closed, with quotas.— Gonzalo Del Piano, AFA general manager
The cooperative already adds value to soybeans and wheat, and we want to do the same with corn.— Gonzalo Del Piano, AFA general manager
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does AFA need a new law to build this plant? Can't they just build it and sell the bioethanol?
The current system doesn't work that way. Argentina's biofuels market operates on quotas—the government decides how much bioethanol can be produced and blended into fuel each year. There's no open competition. If you want to enter, you need permission within that quota system. AFA is too large to fit into the existing framework without changing the rules.
So the plant itself is feasible. It's the market that's locked.
Exactly. AFA has the money, the partnerships, the land options. They've already signed an agreement with a major oil company. But building a plant to produce something you can't legally sell in meaningful quantities doesn't make business sense.
What would the new law actually change?
It would open the market to competition. Instead of quotas, any producer meeting standards could enter. It would also raise the percentage of bioethanol that must be blended into gasoline from 12 percent to 15 percent. That creates actual demand for what AFA would produce.
Why is Argentina's blending percentage so low compared to other countries?
That's the legacy of the quota system. It was designed to protect existing producers and limit market volatility, but it also limited growth. The region has moved faster—some countries are at 20 percent or higher. Argentina has been conservative.
If the law passes, does AFA definitely build the plant?
That's the signal they're waiting for. They've done the groundwork. The law would be the green light. But yes, if it passes and the market opens, AFA has indicated they're ready to move forward with the investment.
What's the timeline?
The bill is pending now. If it passes, the blending increases would happen within twelve months. AFA would likely begin construction shortly after passage, but there's no announced timeline yet.