Agricultural Sector

Uruguay presents a smoothly hilly landscape, with a relative extension occupied by plains and hills.
Due to its average height with regard to sea level , which doesn't reach 140 meters, the country may be compared with regions like Belgium, the Argentinean Pampas and Denmark.
The Uruguayan ecosystem is basically formed by smoothly rolling natural grassland, without any important unevenness. The existence of this ecosystem of natural pastures allows the development of an outdoor production both for bovine and ovine livestock during the whole year.

At present time, the agricultural sector is 8.3% of the economy, measured through the PBI (Gross National Product), and it occupies 147.000 workers. Unofficial estimations calculates that for 1999 there will be around 50.000 cattle ranches. This sector generates more than 65% of the country exports.
Almost the entire national territory is devoted to the agricultural production which occupies more than 15 million hectares.

Characteristics of the Uruguayan agricultural producers
The Uruguayan agricultural sector allows to set up rural companies through the most diverse forms of organizations. Most of the owners live with their family in their farms and spend part of the time in the nearest city. From these more than a half are permanent residents, and almost 40% live in the farm or in some nearby city.
Only 10% has their family residing in Montevideo. 39% has completed the primary level od education and 22% the secondary level. 20% holds a university degree (more than half of these in Agronomy or Veterinary)
A wide majority (two out of three parts) are owners of their farms and almost another third lease them.
Half of the agricultural producers are between 40 and 60 years old.

Cattle sector

The agricultural and agro-industrial products generate more than 65% of the foreign currencies that enter the country by all concept of exports. The livestock products generate 87% of the foreign currencies entered the country by concept of agricultural exports. The traditional export items, that have kept their importance through the years, are: meat, wool and leather. In the last decades, some items of agricultural origin, have as a result of their development, been able to consolidate in the international market increasingly collaborating in the generation of foreign currencies for the country.

Agricultural sector

In Uruguay, agriculture occupies about 600 thousand hectares concentrated on the west region of the country, bordering with Argentina, except for rice cultivation, that is located fundamentally in the North and East region, next to the limits with Brazil.
In the last harvest seasons the main crops have been: wheat (150.000 hectares); rice (200.000 hectares) and barley (110.000 hectares)

Horticultural, fruit, citric and grape wine sectors

In Uruguay the fruit and horticulture have been traditional productions devoted to satisfy the internal market.
Horticulture is mainly located in the South of the country, near Montevideo city, except for two production areas with special characteristics or where the plants are grown under greenhouses located in the North (Salto and Bella Unión). Fruit production of deciduous leaves has also been developed in the South of the country, near Montevideo city. The citric production is developed mainly in the North of the country (Salto and Paysandú). The grape and wine growing, located fundamentally in the south of the country, is successfully undergoing rationalization and beginning to export important volumes of wine.

Apicultural Sector

Honey and other products of the beehive are, after citric, the more important export item of the small production. The Uruguayan honey is known worldwide, there is abundant exporter experience and it receives new investments that continue the growth.
Most of the production concentrates on the West and South of the country. The historical average production for beehive is located around 30 kilos per year, fluctuating between 15 and 60.

Forest sector

The forest production has been developed very intensely in Uruguay for the last 12 years, since a Forest Law that includes government financial support was passed. At present there are more than 322.000 forest hectares, and the current plantation rate is about 40.000 hec. /year.

Most of the forest undertakings are medium and small in size: 69% of them are smaller than 200 hectares, and only 5% are bigger than 1.000 hectares.
Uruguay has already begun to adapt its infrastructure of highways and ports to be able to transport the volumes that soon will begin to be harvested and exported.
Although forest exports do not still have impact in the country’s economy, they are the ones that have bigger rates of growth.

Fishing sector

The fishing Industry catches 133.000 tons of raw matter with a fishing fleet of 105 ships. The predominant species are hakes (37%), sea bass (18%), squid (16%) and whiting (11%).

There are 20 industrial plants, all of them exporters. Of these, 13 are freezers, 3 floury, 2 produce dry-salted product, 1 elaborates smoky product and 1 produces ready to serve plates. 76.000 tons of products result after processing the catch. The most important volumes are: frozen integer (50%), fresh integer (18%) and frozen fillets (15%).
There are 5 plants with qualification to export to the European Union and 7 to the United States.
The fishing policy is directed toward the protection of the natural resources and to the promotion of joint ventures within the 200 miles of marine limit.

OUR SERVICES

Administration:
Strategic, technical and financial planning
Organization and synchronization of this activity resources.
Establishment of the Procedures for purchases, payments, production, sales and collections in the company.
Information dealing.
Tax liabilities liquidation.
Personnel selection

Control:
Preventive and corrective control of all the aspects that make to the operation of the company.
Internal control to measure operative efficiency.
Audits by sector, such as purchase, payments, sales and collections, with reports according to its demand.
Management audits

Analysis of results:
Reports by costs center.
Reports by company sector.
Reports at management level.

Advice:
Legal, technical and tributary analysis to determine company operative modality.
Feasibility and market Analysis