The forestry side of Las Marías: The Corrientes company bets on cutting-edge technology at its Virasoro plant, and Stuart

When people say "Establecimiento Las Marías," most think of yerba mate, tea, and the packages of Taragüi, Union, Mañanita, or La Merced that fill shelves and breakfasts across the country. Few know, however, that behind this century-old brand lies an industrial leg that is growing by leaps and bounds and that today is emerging as a new development front: wood. In Gobernador Virasoro, in the heart of the forestry-industrial region of Corrientes, Establecimiento Las Marías has just started a multimillion-dollar investment to completely modernize its sawmill. There, the company processes part of the more than six thousand hectares of pine and eucalyptus forests it manages in the area, a project that began over half a century ago as a productive diversification and that today is becoming a business with its own life. In addition, they buy logs from third parties to process them and supply various markets. "It's a fairly large investment, yes," said Stuart Navajas, president of Las ...