Fray Bentos

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Fray Bentos

Department

Río Negro Department

Altitude

Coordinates

33º 08'S 58º 18'W

Founded

1858

Population

23,122 (2004)

Demonym

fraybentino

Map of Uruguay, showing Fray Bentos as well as Montevideo

Fray Bentos is a town in western Uruguay, close to the border with Argentina, and about 160 km (100 mi) due north of Buenos Aires.

It has a population of 23,122 (2004). It is a port on the Uruguay River and is the capital of the Río Negro Department. Historically, its main industry has been meat processing. The beef plant there closed in 1979 after 117 years in operation. A local history museum opened on the site in March 2005. The town was originally founded in 1859 as 'Independencia'. Its current name is derived from a reclusive priest.

Botnia S.A., a subsidiary of Finnish corporation Botnia, is currently building a large cellulose factory in Fray Bentos to produce bleached eucalyptus pulp. The investment in the project is about 1 billion USD and the factory will directly or indirectly employ more than 8,000 people. The project, however, is not without opponents. On 30 April 2005 about 40,000 Argentinians from Entre Ríos, along with environmental groups from both countries, blocked an international bridge and demanded the Argentine government to intercede before the Uruguayan one to stop the building of the factory, claiming it will gravely pollute the Uruguay River. On 20 December 2005 a World Bank study concluded that the factory would not have a negative impact on the environment or tourism in either country. As of April 2006 the conflict has not ended, but has indeed escalated into a diplomatic crisis (see Cellulose plant conflict between Argentina and Uruguay).

Fray Bentos is also the original location of the main processing factory for the Liebig Extract of Meat Company. This led to their labeling of their pie range in the United Kingdom as Fray Bentos Pies. Fray Bentos pies are presently owned by the Campbell Soup Company. However, as of July 12 2006, it looks likely that 'Campbells UK' will be bought by Premier Foods.