YPF to build new coke plant in Argentina

Buenos Aires, July 23 (IANS/EFE) YPF, the oil company controlled by the Argentine state following the expropriation of a 51 percent stake from Spain's Repsol, said it planned to break ground soon on a new coke plant in the city of La Plata.

The arrival of heavy equipment Sunday in the port of Berisso, located 60 km south of Buenos Aires, opens the way for work to begin on the $800 million plant, YPF said in a statement.

The heavy equipment will remain at the port until it clears customs and will be "moved, probably next weekend, using special transportation gear, tractors and trailers", to the industrial complex in La Plata, YPF said.

"The new coke plant could start operating in early 2016 and will allow us to increase fuel and diesel production by 600 million liters per year," YPF, Argentina's largest producer of oil, said.

Spain's Repsol retains a 12 percent stake in the Argentine energy company.

--IANS/EFE

rd