Early Warning System

Countries

Paraguay

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Specific Location

Puerto Sara, south of the city of Villeta

Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.

Financial Institutions

US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)

International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.

Project Status

Active

Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.

Bank Risk Rating

Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."

Borrower

Atome Paraguay S.A.

A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.

Sectors

Industry and Trade

The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.

Investment Amount (USD)

Not Disclosed

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.

Bank Documents

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ DFC website

Updated in EWS Aug 17, 2025

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Project Description

If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the Project involves development, construction, and operation of a large-scale Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) fertilizer production plant (260,000 tons/year). To produce the CAN granulated fertilizer, the plant will include a Nitric Acid Plant, an Ammonium Nitrate Solution Plant and a Granulation Plant. The CAN fertilizer will be produced by combining ammonium nitrate solution with crushed dolomite and a coatin g agent. The plant will require up to 12 4 MW of power and 172 tons/day of dolomite. Power will be provided through a long-term PPA with ANDE, the national utility using 100% hydropower. Dolomite will be provided through a local supplier in Northern Paraguay, still yet to be determined. The Project consists of the following components:

• A large-scale fertilizer production plant of granulated Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN).
• A 220 kV electric transmission line of approximately 550 m in length with four towers and substation.
• A water intake, pumping house and approximately 2 km pipeline for the provision of water from the Paraguay River.
• An effluent discharge pipeline to be installed in the same right-of-way as the water intake pipeline.

Early Warning System Project Analysis

For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

The Project is screened as Category A because the Project is an integrated chemical installation that manufactures, on an industrial scale, nitrogen-based fertilizer. The major environmental and social risks associated with the Project include the potential for ammonia and particulate matter releases, occupational health and safety risks during construction and operations, including the handling of hazardous materials (hydrogen and ammonia) during operations, contaminated water and waste water, conversion of habitat that supports priority biodiversity features (e.g., natural habitat per PS 6), the need for appropriate stakeholder engagement, and labor management.

There are no known Indigenous Peoples, cultural heritage sites, or inhabitants within the Project site, and no resettlement or economic displacement is anticipated.

Investment Description

Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)

Investment type and amount not available at the time of disclosure.

Private Actors Description

A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

ATOME is a global developer of zero-carbon fertiliser products using 100% renewable energy sources to decarbonise the existing agricultural market. ATOME is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and is the first and only listed pure-play green fertiliser developer.

Private Actor 1	Private Actor 1 Role	Private Actor 1 Sector	Relation	Private Actor 2	Private Actor 2 Role	Private Actor 2 Sector
-	-	-	-	Atome Paraguay S.A.	Client	-

Contact Information

This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Location of Local Access to Project Information: A copy of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) may be found at the following location:
Municipality of Villeta Office
Presbítero Enrique Schoenfeld y Mariscal Estigarribia,
Distrito de Villeta, Paraguay

DFC

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Unlike many other development finance institutions, DFC does not currently have an access to information policy.

Under the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), DFC is obliged to respond to reasonably formulated requests for Agency records. However, DFC may apply exemptions from release to certain types of information and may charge fees in responding to requests. DFC has a designated FOIA officer who is trained in how to respond to requests and implement the law. You can learn more about filing a FOIA request at: https://www.dfc.gov/foia.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION (DFC)

The Office of Accountability is an independent office that addresses complaints about environmental or social issues related to DFC-supported projects. The office provides communities an opportunity to have concerns independently reviewed and addressed. If you submit a complaint to the Office of Accountability, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a problem solving dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the DFC complied with its policies to prevent environmental, social, human rights, and labor harms.

You can find more information about the Office of Accountability at: https://www.dfc.gov/who-we-are/office-accountability.